A New Life  Revised
by betterthings89
Summary: What would happen when Lilly and Oliver grow up? What if they got married and had kids? What would the lives of their kids be like? Explore the up and downs of the Oken children from childhood to adulthood. And please leave reviews along the way!
1. The Calm Before a Storm

_*NOTE: This is the first chapter of my new saga "A New Life ". The characters are from my recent saga "Meant To Be" which was directly about Lilly and Oliver and friends. This one is about their children. So if you haven't read that saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9", those are the parts they come into existence and are involved in. This story takes place 5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"_

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! Please leave reviews!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 1: The Calm Before a Storm-**

Jimmy Oken tasted blood between his teeth as the second blow from a fist made contact with his cheek and his gums split open. It had taken all his self control to keep his fist off of Andy Corelli's jaw. But that was no longer an option. Jimmy unleashed his anger with a right hook that sent Andy dazedly into a trash can that toppled over from the impact.

Jimmy was not the favorite to win this fight. He wasn't the thinnest person around, he was a little chubby but not even close to being overweight. He was very athletic, which afforded him somewhat above average physical strength that could prove to be his only advantage.

Andy on the other hand was beyond fat and always ate like he'd been starving for weeks. He was at least forty pounds heavier than Jimmy. It was anyone's guess as to how strong he was. But the thing that made him a little less imposing and even larger in appearance was the fact that he was a good two inches shorter than Jimmy. Andy's hulking stout size was what made him the 'odds on' in this confrontation.

Jimmy saw how dazed Andy was and figured he'd had enough, and was going to back off. But he was mistaken. As soon as he turned his back to walk off, Andy lunged at him, grabbing him from behind, trying to wrestle him to the floor. During the struggle Andy would not let go of Jimmy's midsection at all. At one point Jimmy's shirt pulled up a little exposing his flabby stomach.

At that point Jimmy knew he'd had enough and rammed his elbow into Andy's more than ample gut, causing him to lose his grasp. Then Jimmy decided he wanted to put an end to it. He drew back his fist and punched Andy in the face with as much force as he could. Andy looked dazed and defeated. But as blood began to show over his lips a smirk formed on his face. This meant Jimmy could not walk away; he was being challenged in the worst way. He struck him again with as much force as he could muster. Andy dropped like a led weight in water. He thudded onto the floor, his enormous belly sloshing out from under his shirt like pond water.

Jimmy did not crack a smile. Even though he had won, and Andy wouldn't cross him again in the near future, it didn't feel very satisfying. It felt like a hollow victory, not a triumphant one. He had lost control, and behaved in a way he'd wished was past him. He had been brought up to believe that this kind of violence was not acceptable. Although he was not always able to restrain his anger.

"Jimmy, what happened? I heard you got into a fight with Andy. Oh, I see you won." Sam, Jimmy's best guy friend, said, out of breath from running to the scene of the fight.

"Jimmy what is wrong with you? You have to learn to walk away! You're better than this Jimmy! You're _way_ better than this!" Alice, his other best friend, said in a highly aggravated voice.

"It's his fault he wanted to ch…" Jimmy started to say before he was cut off.

"OKEN! MY OFFICE, NOW!" Principal Kunkle bellowed at the top of her lungs. He walked down the halls of Sea View Middle school seeing some of the less mature guys and his friends flashing him looks of approval while the girls looked at him with disdain, except for all the ones who hated Andy Corelli.

"I've sent for your mother to leave her class and come down here immediately. But I think we'll get started without her, shall we?" Ms. Kunkle said in a grizzly voice.

"I'd rather not." Jimmy replied in a witty tone.

"Don't try my patience Oken! You're just as smart mouthed as you father was when he went here. Except he wasn't nearly as quick witted as you." She said to him. He glared at her with an offended look on his face that could eat through a wall.

"You're definitely another Oken from that mop-top neck-length hair, and that pointed chin, down to that annoying little trio you have going with your two best friends. You make me sick!" She spouted at him. "Only difference is you're a fat little, smart mouthed, hot headed, unbelievable pain. Your father was a scrawny little mouse of a kid. And a moron to boot. Oh and those green eyes and the scarecrow nose! I could never get past any of that!" Ms. Kunkle verbally thrashed him. She looked straight into his piercing blue eyes trying to wear down his nerves. His nose was smaller than his fathers but his chin came to the same point. Jimmy leaped out of his chair, his fierce temper getting the better of him.

"Don't talk about my dad like that! He never did anything to you! None of that's even true! And I'm not fat! I'm just a little chubby! What's wrong with you?!" He blasted, rage beginning to re-enter his body, subconsciously feeling his soft stomach which was more than a little above average in size but not to the point of being unhealthy. Just then his mother, Lilly Oken, entered the office. He sat down immediately, his expression instantly shifting from fury to humiliation.

"This is the third time I've been called down here because you've been in a fight! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be called out of class three times because your son can't control himself and got into some kind of junk yard brawl? Of course you don't. You never think about it! You are way more mature than this! You know better. I know we didn't raise you like this! WHAT were you thinking Jimmy?" Lilly scolded him.

"Andy keeps picking these fights with me! He just won't let up!" Jimmy started, trying to explain his reasons.

"NO! I don't want to hear that. Don't pin the blame on somebody else. You could have walked away from it and then Andy would be the one in trouble, not you!" Lilly cut him off furiously.

"I'm sorry, I…" Jimmy started again, trying another, more sympathetic angle.

"Oh, don't start… don't start with sorry, we're way past sorry!" Lilly snapped.

Just then Andy was hauled in by Jimmy's favorite teacher, Mrs. Evans, who looked very disappointed in him. He looked at Andy. He had a nasty looking bruise next to his left eye where Jimmy's final blow had landed and a couple of stitches on his upper lip where one of the other punches must have split his lip.

"Where'd you learn how to fight like that Oken?", were Andy's first words before being instructed to sit down. He plopped down heavily in the chair across from Jimmy. His gut shaking around as he leaned back lazily.

"I get good practice on you Corelli!" Jimmy retorted.

"SILENCE both of you!" Ms. Kunkle bellowed. Just then Mrs. Evans spoke up.

"Jimmy what has gotten into you lately? You're usually such a sweet and well behaved boy." She said to him, sensitively.

"What has that got to do with anything Evans?" Ms. Kunkle interjected.

"It's just that Jimmy is so smart! He's usually so well-mannered and mature, especially when it comes to his behavior. I only see him get aggravated on rare occasions. I hadn't come expect this out of him. He's the best student in his grade by far. He has the best grades out of anybody in his grade. He's in the accelerated learning program for all of his classes." Mrs. Evans replied.

"That's nice. But you may leave Mrs. Evans." Ms. Kunkle said, with a look of hatred on her face. "I want to know why this happened and I want to know right now!" She demanded of the pair of them.

"Well Jimmy was being a…" Andy began to say.

"Corelli, I'm going to have to stop you. Unfortunately there were about thirty witnesses that all say you started the fight. So, Oken let's hear what you've got to say for yourself." Ms. Kunkle uttered reluctantly.

"We were taking a test in science class. Andy sat next to me. I didn't think anything of it until I'd finished three or four of the questions. Then I noticed that he was looking at my e-testing pad. That's when I realized he was copying my answers. So I would go to answer a question and select the wrong answer, but wait to submit it until he was looking at his own test, copying the answer. Then I would change mine to the right answer and submit it." Jimmy explained, cleverly.

"I see, and that is why you received a perfect score? From hard work and studying, Oken. And you received a twenty-three percent, Corelli. Because you where slacking off and got caught cheating off of Okens' test?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Andy said dimly.

"So you thought that was a good reason to start yet another fight with Oken? Which, he should _not_ have participated in!" Ms. Kunkle continued.

"Whatever." Andy slurred lethargically.

" 'Whatever'? Well then Corelli, based on the fact that you had to cheat on that test I am going to have to ask your science teacher to re-evaluate your placement in that accelerated class, which you clearly don't belong in, and as much as it pains me to say it, Oken does. It is by point of fact the only accelerated learning class you managed to get yourself into. I wonder how you managed to swing that one. The grades in all of your other classes are just as mediocre Corelli." Ms. Kunkle said. Andy looked a little perturbed by what had just been said to him, but not really.

"You're both suspended for a week. Don't let me see you in here again!" Ms. Kunkle instructed them. Andy got up and headed for the door.

"You'll pay for this Oken, I needed that class." He threatened, pointing his stubby finger at Jimmy.

"I don't think so Corelli. I've told the security guards that if they see either one of you anywhere near the other, to send you to me with an automatic two weeks of suspension. Now go. Both of you. The sight of you makes me want to tear my own hair out." Ms. Kunkle spat in a revolted tone of voice, an equally disgusted look on her face.

They started to leave. As they entered the hall Lilly grabbed her sons' shoulder. "I am so mad at you right now. But I don't have time to talk. You're father and I will have a nice little tête-à-tête with you when I get home. Now you go straight home, and don't go anywhere near Andy on the way." Lilly instructed him.

"Yes, mom." He replied, respectfully.

She walked down the hallway and rounded a corner out of sight. Jimmy turned around and began making his way towards the exit. He kicked a locker out of frustration. Andy, who was half way down the hall gobbling down chocolate bars from another student's locker, did not seem to notice. Jimmy strode out the building and jogged home.

In the evening his mother and his father, Oliver, arrived home. His father looked livid. "You seriously got into another fight? What is wrong with you? I never did anything like that and neither should you!" Oliver shouted.

"Oh snap! Jimmy's in trouuuble!" Rose, his ten year old sister, said in a singsong voice. His eight year old brother Michael giggled.

"You two go up to your rooms until I'm finished talking to you brother!" Oliver instructed them.

He turned and faced Jimmy. "How did it go? You won right?" Oliver whispered.

"Uh, yeah." Jimmy responded quietly, a little confused. He had won this fight and the one before that too. The first one had been broken up by a teacher and a security guard.

"Excuse me!" Lilly cut in.

"…Not that it matters or anything." Oliver added, trying protect himself.

"Now go up to your room and do your homework. You're grounded for a month." Oliver told him. Lilly nodded at him in approval.

Jimmy headed up to his room. He was holding in so much stress that he could barely sit still. It was almost painful. He had already finished all of his homework and he had gone over it four more times with all the time he had from not being at school. "Forget this!" Jimmy exclaimed, to himself, shaking his head.

He opened his window and climbed out onto a pipe on the wall and slid down to the ground. It was only five o'clock but it was already getting dark out, like it was about to rain. But he didn't care. He had to get out. He needed to release the stress that he had been bottling up since the end of the fight.

He sprinted down to the beach and just started running. Why? He didn't know. It was just instinct. The more he ran, the more his anger and tension just melted away. Why he had never thought of this before he didn't know. Without even knowing it food had been replaced as his stress reliever. He would now just go out and run and get a workout. It had been a subconscious decision, but it would stick with him.

As he continued to run the sky darkened with rain clouds. It had become cold, dark, and windy. But Jimmy didn't care. He had to keep going. It was just that simple. It was very difficult for him to run on the beach. Not only because it would be difficult for anyone but because he was only twelve years old and therefore wasn't very tall which meant running on the beach was difficult due to the fact that he didn't have long legs. But that seemed to be the point.

As the run continued Andy Corelli's sneering face seeped into his thoughts once more. This made the anger build within him once more. He stopped and walked down to the water. He was holding in so much anger that he couldn't stand it for another second. He stopped and stood there for a minute, still and silent. There was no sound around him except the sound of the wind and the crashing of the waves. It was quite peaceful. It was like the calm before a storm. He screamed at the top of his lungs and kicked his foot into the sand at the edge of the tide, causing a sandy splash of water.

He began running again. It had started to rain lightly. The rain was blowing against his backside, making him cold and damp. But he just kept running. He had to get it all out. Giving into the rage wasn't an option.

The beach was deserted due to the cold and stormy weather. So when he came upon a vacant lifeguard stand he stopped running. He climbed up and swung down over the side holding onto the armrest about four feet above the ground for him. He started doing pull-ups on the side of the chair. He continued to do that until it hurt too much to keep going. He dropped down onto the sand and continued to run down the beach. It was still cold and rainy but he wasn't quite contented that he could go home and not feel inner anger start to return.

He ran hard for the next half an hour. Then he began to feel exhaustion catching up with him. He stopped running at the edge of the water. He was sweaty and his face was hot. So he plunged himself into the water, fully clothed, cooling himself off.

He walked home and came up the front door because he noticed the light in his room was on which meant his absence had not gone unnoticed. He stood there soaked with his hair matted down his face and part of the way down his neck. The imprint of his slightly fleshy belly, which stuck out more obviously than usual, bore through his soaked shirt which clung tightly to the marginally doughy parts of his back and midsection.

His mother opened the door. "Where have you been? You know what, I don't care. I'm gonna get you a towel, then you go straight up to your room." Lilly said. He dried himself off and then hobbled up to his room. He changed into his pajamas and then collapsed on his bed, falling asleep immediately.

The next day was Saturday. Jimmy awoke refreshed and level headed. He walked downstairs for breakfast. He woke up a little later than everyone else because had been so tired from the ordeal at school and the run he had taken on the beach. His mother looked at him.

"You know your hair has gotten just a little _too_ long. It's time for a haircut. Bring it back to jaw length, instead of neck length." Lilly said to him. "And since you won't be going anywhere or hanging out with your friends, seeing as you're grounded, today is the perfect day to do it. You're dad can take you a little later." She continued.

"You know what. I think you need a little more independence. Maybe if we trust you to do a few things on your own, we can trust you to be a little more mature at school. What do you say?" Oliver suggested to him.

"What did you have in mind?" Lilly wondered aloud.

"I think he can go get his hair cut on his own. The lady there knows how he gets it done. So I'll just give him some money and he can go down there himself." Oliver clarified.

"Ok. We'll see how that goes." She said, kissing Oliver on the lips.

"Please mom we're eating here!" Jimmy gasped.

Later that day Jimmy walked out of the house with the money his father had given him and went down to the place he always got his haircuts near the pier. When he got out he felt the cool breeze on his head.

He walked down the pier where he saw a sight that made him run quickly. It was his sister Rose . She was in trouble.

"Rose what's going on?" He asked urgently. She was on the ground sitting up against a post crying. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you alright Rose?" He begged her.

"I fell off my bike and broke my leg!" She clutched his hand and squeezed, scared.

"All right here's what we're gonna do. Put your arm around the back of my neck and hold onto my other shoulder and I'll lift you up and support you." Jimmy instructed. He turned around with his back to her and she did what he said. Then he stood up and supported her as they maneuvered to the end of the pier. Rose limped on her one good leg.

"Alex went to get help but that was like twenty minutes ago. He must have gotten lost." Rose told him. Alex was her best friend.

"Don't worry. I've got you little sis." Jimmy reassured her. She smiled through the pain. They reached the end of the pier. Jimmy saw a vendor.

"Hey can I use your phone?" He asked the man.

"Sure kid." The man handed him a phone.

A minute later he hung up. "Ok Rose there's an ambulance on the way. Let's just sit on this bench till it gets here." Jimmy told her. They sat down and started to talk.

"So did you really get into another fight at school yesterday?" Rose asked curiosly.

"Yeah, I did. It was bad!" Jimmy replied.

"Who won?" She asked loyally.

"You're big bro!" Jimmy said with a smile. "Not that I'm proud of it, fighting isn't something to be proud of!"

The ambulance came and one of the EMTs helped Rose onto the bed in the back. Jimmy sat down in the seat across from the bed and rode to the hospital with her. As they waited Rose looked up at him.

"Your hair Jimmy!" she exclaimed.

"What about it?" He asked, he had completely forgotten that not fifteen minutes ago he had his hair cut.

"I like it!" She smiled at him.

"Thanks, I like it too." He said with a light grin.

Later that day when they got home Jimmy helped his sister into the house.

"What happened?" their mother asked straightaway.

"She fell of her bike and broke her leg. The doctor says she needs to rest for the day and stay off her feet." He relayed as he helped her to the couch.

"Jimmy thanks for helping me and being with me." Rose said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Hey, that's what big brothers are for!" He replied beaming down at her. She hugged him happily.

"Umm, Jimmy what happened with your hair?" Lilly asked him with a look of shock and sudden recognition on her face.

"Yeah, you like it?" Jimmy asked smiling.

"Yeah, I do, I think it's a nice change. But what's your dad going to say?"

"What am I going to say about… oh my goodness! James Oliver Oken what have you done to your hair?!" Oliver demanded of his son. He looked at him with a dazed look staring at the hair that had once reached half way down his neck the way his had been as a teenager. Jimmy's hair was now incredibly short. It was just long enough that his scalp was not visible, and it stood on end.

"Ooo Jimmy you have ears!" Rose said genially. "And a forehead and cheek bones and a neck!" She joked further.

"That's not funny Rose!" Oliver snapped.

"What's wrong? I like it!" Lilly stated.

"Yeah… Yeah… I guess I do too. It's just you've had your hair like that since you were two. I thought you liked it…" Oliver muttered, still a little astonished.

"I do like it dad. I mean I did. But you said it was time for me to start growing up. And I'll be a teenager pretty soon. So I thought I'd go for a new look. Plus, Michael still has that long hair. He'll probably keep it like that longer than I did." Jimmy consoled his pained father.

Just then Michael bounded in through the door with his best friends Susan and Robbie Rod Stewart, who where cousins. "Wow! Jimmy you're hair! Dad's gonna freak!" Michael said, running his hand over Jimmy's hair. Michael had the same haircut as Jimmy had a few hours ago.

"He's right there Michael. And he's still in the middle of freaking." Jimmy said looking at his brother funny.

"No, I'm ok. I'll just have to get used to this. And you're right Jimmy; I did say you needed to grow up. I guess part of that is deciding on your own what you want your hair to look like." Oliver said, making his way into the kitchen for a glass of water.

A week later when his suspension was lifted, Jimmy went to school. He had decided he would turn over a new leaf. The new, short haired Jimmy wasn't the type to spring into fights. He decided to be cooler and more level headed. As for Andy Corelli, he stayed away from Jimmy for two reasons. First, he was a little afraid because Jimmy had just defeated him fairly easily in a fight. And because he was going to get suspended if he came near him again.

Jimmy had vowed to be more cool headed and less reactionary. But who knew what the future held for him. Trouble might find him again someday. It was his job to make sure it didn't.

_Notes to the readers:_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_**** Just to clear things up at this point the ages of the characters are as follows. Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 12. Rose is 10. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8._

_*****The title "A New Life" means that it is someone else's lives that are being chronicled, instead of Lilly and Oliver's lives. Specifically it is the lives of their kids and their friend's kids. But mostly their kids. _


	2. Tomorrow is Another Day

_*I hope you like this! Please leave reviews!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 2: Tomorrow is Another Day-**

_**Jimmy's Story**_

Today was the first day that Jimmy was free from his one month of grounding. He had been grounded for getting into a fight at school. He had not repeated the incident since then and did not intend to. The first thing he did with his freedom, on this sunny Saturday morning was to go down to the pier to get his hair cut again. He was now keeping it incredibly short instead of incredibly long like his brother's or how his father's wore it as a teenager. So he had to have it trimmed much more often than he was used to.

After he was done getting his hair trimmed down he came back out onto the pier. He ran his hand through his hair. "Much better." He thought to himself. Just then his two best friends Sam and Alice came up to greet him.

"Hey Jimmy nice hair cut!" Sam exclaimed.

"Very nice J!" Alice complimented as well.

"Thanks guys, I'm trying to stay with this new look. What do you guys think?"

"Great idea makes you look cool man!" Sam remarked.

"Very cool." Alice added.

"Anyway I gotta go. I'm going to visit my grandparents so you guys have fun!" Sam said. He walked off as soon as they said goodbye.

"See ya Sam!" Jimmy and Alice said in unison. Jimmy and Alice began to walk in the opposite direction.

"You know that new haircut makes you look really cute Jimmy!" Alice said crinkling her forehead.

"What? Cute? That's not really what I was going for. I was going for cool! Besides, I'm your best guy friend, right? I don't get to be cute." Jimmy told her, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah you're right. We're friends. And it does make you look cool." Alice said, running her hand over his hair. "But just so you know, you are cute. But I'll keep that to myself. We're friends, that's it."

"Yeah, just friends! Cool friends!" he said, smiling at her coolly.

"Wait Jimmy I hafta know. We're only twelve and you're a boy, so girls are still a little gross to you. But I wanna know if I have feelings for you." Alice insisted. They where only twelve so they didn't really have a good perspective on how they felt about the opposite gender. Jimmy knew he thought girls where pretty, he didn't think they were gross. And Alice knew that she thought boys were cute. But that was about it. Of course being a girl Alice was a little farther along in this area of awareness. But not much because Jimmy was very mature for his age. In the area of intelligence he was smarter than she was. But that wasn't important at the moment.

"So how do you plan to find out, Alice?" Jimmy asked her, confused.

"We have to kiss Jimmy." She said, her face turning a little pink.

"Kiss? Are you serious? Why?" Jimmy asked. He was a little bit confused. He had thought about kissing girls once or twice, and thought he might like it. But he was only twelve and wasn't quite sure he was ready yet.

"It's the only way. And if we don't like it I promise we don't hafta do it ever again!" Alice assured him.

"Ok, but just because I'm your friend and nothing else. If any of my guy friends found out I'd be dead!" Jimmy spelled out as if life itself was on the line.

They walked off of the pier and found a secluded spot under a dock. "Remember this is just because you wanted to find out. Nothing else!" Jimmy said, making sure to get the point across.

"I know Jimmy; I promise it's not going to be a big deal, ok?" Alice guaranteed him.

"Ok." He replied. "So, how do we do this?"

"We'll get closer, and then on the count of three we'll just do it." Alice told him.

"Ok…You start." He insisted, still a little embarrassed.

"Ok." She replied. She walked closer and put her right hand on his slightly soft stomach and her left hand on the muscle of his arm. He didn't move an inch. "Ok, 1-2-3."

Their lips came together, and Jimmy's top lip locked with Alice's bottom lip. They pulled apart after a little less than ten seconds and looked at each other, her captivating brown eyes connecting with his piercing blue ones. Quickly they broke eye contact. They had both enjoyed it, but they weren't completely sure why yet.

"So, it's agreed. Just friends then?" Jimmy asked her, still making sure. He had felt something. It might have been attraction. But at his age he wouldn't know. Not for another year at least. So he wasn't going to say anything.

"You know I might like you a little Jimmy. I'm still not sure." She replied.

"We're not kissing again!" He said, assertively.

"No. I agree, just friends." She said, smiling timidly.

They started walking back onto the pier, so they could enjoy the rest of the day and think of anything but the fact that they had just experimented with kissing each other. About half an hour into their day on the pier Jimmy got a call on his video phone. He answered it, and as he looked into the screen he listened to what the other person had to say, his facial expression became very serious.

When he was done talking, he looked up at Alice. "Sorry Alice I gotta go. That was my mom." Jimmy told her.

"Why? What did she say? Did she decide you're still grounded?" Alice said, looking at him sternly.

"No I'm not. My parents need me to be with them right now."

"Why? What's up?" Alice asked again.

"I can't talk right now. No time. She didn't tell me much. It has something to do with my brother. I'll see ya later." Jimmy said in a whirlwind. He began running off the pier. His lung capacity had started to increase as a result of his new found passion for running. He could now run longer without losing his breath. And while he was grounded, running was the only thing his parents would let him do outside the house. So he had done a lot of running and working out, and he had discovered that he quite liked it.

_**Rose's Story**_

Rose Oken sat on the floor in her family's garage. She had a cast on her right leg because she had broken it a month ago, falling off her bike. Her brother Jimmy had helped her through it, helping her walk around when she was having trouble. And she had never stopped being grateful to him, even if she didn't always show it.

She sat there adjusting the gears on her bike; she was bored because she couldn't do most of the things she normally found fun. She enjoyed doing things that involved a lot of action such as riding her bike with her friends, skate boarding, and surfing. The problem was she couldn't do any of those things with a cast on her leg. Lucky for her, her best friend was there to help keep her company.

"Why do boys have to be so stupid? Why can't they grow up as fast as girls do? I'm ten and I'm more mature than any boy my age!" Rose pouted.

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" Her best friend protested.

"I didn't mean you Alex. You're different!" She clarified.

"Thanks, now I could use your help, since you're so smart!" He said intentionally sounding sarcastic. And she was very smart. He was actually being honest.

"What is it you need help with?" she asked him.

"I wanna learn that bike trick I saw you doing a couple of months ago. That would be so cool if I could do that." Alex said, a glow in his emerald eyes.

"I'd help you but I don't get this cast off until tomorrow." She said, pointing down at her right leg.

"I know, that's what I meant, tomorrow. Or whenever your leg is better." Alex replied, sounding considerate.

"So what's up with your brother getting into another fight at school? I know that was a month ago. But that's three fights now, right?" Alex asked, a little curious.

"Yeah. It wasn't his fault. This ogre named Andy Corelli kept starting the fights. The last one was because Jimmy made him get a bad grade on a test when he realized Andy was cheating off of him." Rose told him.

"Oh. Smooth move on Jimmy's part. Not the fighting thing. I mean the making Andy get a bad grade part." Alex commented, throwing her a genial grin.

"Yeah, I know. I'm proud of him. I mean the stopping Andy from cheating part, not the fighting. Well maybe the fighting too, just a little, cause he won. But really just the test part." Rose replied, subconsciously mirroring what Alex had said.

Minutes later Rose's mother burst into the garage. "Rose we need to go right now. You'll have to finish that later. And Alex it was nice having you over but we need to leave." Lilly said frantically. Lilly helped her daughter up off the floor with Alex's help. He left promptly as he was told.

"Mom, what's going on?" Rose asked, confused at what was going on.

"I called Jimmy to come meet us. And I got your dad to come too." Lilly said hurriedly.

"What is going on? Why isn't Michael meeting us there too? Where are we going?" Rose asked, still totally mixed up.

"I'll tell you when we get there. I need time to think. But it's about Michael."

_**Michael's Story**_

Michael Oken was much like his father at his age. He had long black hair, he was thin and a little awkward, but he had blue eyes, not green. He was a funny, happy, eight year old boy with two best friends that where always there for him, just like his father. Of course his father had only had one at that age and he married her later on down the road. Michael's two best friends were cousins, Robbie Rod Stewart, and Susan Stewart. He secretly thought he might like Susan a little more than Robbie did, more than just a friend or a cousin, but he wasn't telling anybody. He was eight and girls where generally gross to him when he thought of them like that.

He was over at Susan's house with Susan and Robbie playing in the Stewarts' back yard. He fell off a swing and scraped his leg. "Michael you gotta be more careful. I'll go get a towel to wipe that off." Robbie said. He was overly cautious sometime when it came to these things, unlike his father, Jackson.

"Thanks!" Michael answered. Robbie ran in and grabbed a towel. Michael began to wipe his leg off.

"You're such a klutz Oken!" Susan teased. He flashed her a dirty look.

He got up and continued to swing. But before he knew it he had fallen off again. There was now another cut on the same leg. He cringed a little from the pain of his throbbing leg. He wiped a small tear out of his eye with his sleeve. Then he proceeded to clean the cut out so he could get back as quickly as possible.

He got up and hopped back into the swing. But within the next ten minutes he was on the ground with another cut. This time it was on his right elbow. A few more tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn't slow down at all. He got the towel and tenderly wiped off his arm.

"Another cut Oken! You are such a clumsy, simple boy Michael!" Susan shouted to him, good humouredly.

"I fell, I'm always doing that, it's no big deal, I'm fine." Michael said, nonchalantly. He was a little bit clumsy, but he didn't care, he was a very happy boy and loved his life and his friends.

He ran back over to them, ready to get back to having fun playing with his friends.

"You know Michael; you're not having much luck with the swings, why don't we try something else instead?" Robbie suggested.

"Like what?" Michael asked, realizing it was a good idea.

"How about the monkey bars?" Susan said, enthusiastically.

Without another thought they all went over to the monkey bars. Susan climbed up first and swung down. She started making her way across on the bars. Then Robbie jumped up and climbed up on top of the bars. "Wow you can see right into your yard from here Michael! You should see this!"

Michael climbed up. "See. There's the back of your house. There's your trampoline. There's the deck." Robbie pointed.

"Wow, you're right! Cool!" Michael exclaimed. Just then he started to feel a little dizzy, he hadn't realized it but he had lost a little blood from the cuts, which was making him a little lightheaded.

"I need to get down now." Michael said, hazily.

"Ok, just swing over the side and hang down from the side bar, and drop onto the ground on your feet." Susan instructed him. He started to bend over to put his hands on the side bar. But he was overcome by dizziness. Everything started spinning around him in a sickening spiral. He lost his footing and slipped.

He came tumbling down to the ground landing flat on his back. He saw black spots in his vision and his body hurt all over, not just his leg and arm, where he had scraped them before.

"Oken are you alright? Get up and clean yourself off. We've got a basketball. We can throw hoops if you want. You can't fall and get cut doing that. Well maybe _you _can. Come on!" Susan coaxed him.

"Michael, are you alright? What's wrong?" Robbie asked, looking alarmed.

Michael's back was very numb, and he didn't know why but something was holding him down. He couldn't get up no matter how hard he wiled himself to. "I can't get up!" he moaned out in pain.

"Why? What's wrong Oken? What hurts?" Susan asked.

"Everythong... I can't move." Michael choked out, seeing more blackness on his vision.

"You probably just winded yourself in the fall, you'll be ok!" Susan said to him.

"He doesn't look ok. Tell us what's wrong. What's going on?" Robbie asked Michael. Michael tilted his head over at them, because it hurt too much to lift it, and looked at them.

"I can't move my legs. I can't sit up." He cried.

"Why can't you move your legs?" Susan asked, confused.

"I… I can't feel anything in my legs, and some of my back." Michael said, quietly.

"What? Are you sure? What's wrong with…?" Susan said. But Michael didn't hear everything. He had passed out.

The next thing Michael was aware of was the sight of nothing but bright white light and a soft beeping sound. "He's coming around. Michael, can you hear me?" a man asked.

"What happened? Where am I?" Michael groaned.

"You had a bad fall. You're in a hospital now. My name is Doctor Dorian. Your family is here waiting to see you. I'll send them in as soon as I explain to you what is going on."

"I need to explain to you why there is no feeling in your legs and part of your back." Dr. Dorian said.

"I broke my legs, right? That's what it is. I'm so clumsy some times." Michael said softly. His vision was now clear and he could see everything. Doctor Dorian looked straight at him with a saddened and worried look.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple Michael. There was some nerve damage in your spine, and it caused the loss of sensation in your lower back and legs." Dr. Dorian began.

"What does that mean? I don't understand." Michael asked quietly.

"It means that you are paralyzed from your lower back down. You will have no use of your legs, and will not be able to sit up on your own due to the damage to the nerves in your back. I'm so sorry." Dr. Dorian said, starting to cry himself. He had had patients that had this happen. But it always broke his heart when it was someone so young.

"Can I see my parents?" Michael asked.

"Of course you can." Dr. Dorian said. He pushed a button on the wall.

"Mr. & Mrs. Oken, you can come in now. Your son wants to see you." He said into the panel. Moments later his mother and father, Lilly and Oliver came in with tears covering their cheeks.

"I've explained to your son what has happened. Do you need to ask anything further?" Dr. Dorian asked them.

"Well can you do anything to help fix the damage?" Oliver asked. "

Our surgical team, lead by our Chief of Surgery Dr. Turk, repaired all the damage. But that's all they could do." Dr. Dorian explained.

"So he'll get better? He'll walk again?" Lilly asked frantically.

"We just don't know. The condition may be temporary. Or it may be more permanent." Dr. Dorian explained.

"What does 'more permanent' mean?" Oliver asked.

"It means that there is a very good chance that your son may never walk again. I'm so sorry!" Dr. Dorian said through light tears of his own.

Later on Rose, Jimmy, and Miley walked in to see them. "Hey little bro, how's it going?" Jimmy said, through small tears.

"Not great…You got your hair cut again." Michael answered.

"Don't worry about that right now Mikey, we're all here and we love you." Jimmy said, squeezing his brother's hand.

"Michael, you know we're all here for you, you can count on us for anything!" Rose said, squeezing his other hand.

"Michael, you're so special. All of us, you're mom and dad and your brother and sister, Susan and I. We're all here for you." Miley told him.

"And so are Robbie and me. Don't give up. You're gonna be ok. You'll be able to live just fine! We're all here for you always." Jackson said, as he walked in. Michael said nothing. He just smiled and squeezed his brother and sister's hands tight.

Lilly came over to him and stroked her hand through his hair and down onto his cheek. "Just remember that we all love you and that you'll get through this. You'll be able to work around this. And know that tomorrow is another day. And I know you'll find a way to make it, and be a cheerful and wonderful boy just like you always are." Lilly told him, warmly.

"Thanks mom. I love you. I love all of you!" Michael said tranquilly.

They all stayed with him for a while. Slowly they began to leave. Over the next week they all came to visit him. When the week was over, they took him home, and began to make the adjustments to help him adjust to **new life**.

**Notes to the readers:**

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** Just to clear things up at this point the ages of the characters are as follows. Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 12. Rose is 10. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8._

_***The title "A New Life" means that it is someone else's lives that are being chronicled, instead of Lilly and Oliver's lives. Specifically it is the lives of their kids and their friend's kids. But mostly their kids._


	3. Honor Among Thieves

_*I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 3: Honor Among Thieves-**

Rose Oken was very concerned for her little brother Michael. He had been paralyzed from the waist down about a week ago. He had always been such a joyful, energetic kid. But now he was confined to a wheelchair. He was having to learn to deal with the fact that he could no longer walk or even sit up on his own. He did have all of his family and friends for support. But still he was very unhappy, and his personality had drastically changed. He had been a very open and friendly person. Now he was extremely closed off emotionally and he seemed to have a black cloud hovering over him all the time.

"Mom there's gotta be something I can do. He's so sad all the time. I can't take it, he's not supposed to be like this." Rose griped.

"We have to give him time to adjust. He's just a little boy, and he's being forced to adjust to a life changing injury that no one should have to deal with." Lilly told her daughter.

"I know he's got to get used to it. But isn't there something we can do to help?" Rose said, not giving up.

"I don't know what to tell you. We've tried just about everything. He's just not ready to start getting back into things yet. You can try to help him. But I think the best thing to do is to just give him time." Lilly said sullenly.

Minutes later Michael was wheeled in by Jimmy, who looked upset about something. Michael began to wheel himself off into another room.

"What's wrong Jimmy?" Rose asked him.

"He's still in the same bad mood he's been in ever since he got home from the hospital. He won't talk very much either." Jimmy told her.

"Isn't their anything we can do to cheer him up?" Rose asked, hoping her brother could give a more satisfying answer.

"I've tried everything I can think of. I took him to the park. That just made him even more moody. I offered to take him over to see Susan and Robbie, but he definitely didn't want to do that. He seemed like he would've been embarrassed. I even tried telling him the jokes I tell him all the time that always make him laugh. He didn't even crack a smile. I don't know what to do…I _know_ I'm funny!" Jimmy said in no uncertain terms.

"Well I have to go across the street. Dad wants me to bring Mrs. Halverson her newspaper." Rose informed them. Mrs. Halverson was their elderly neighbor. She needed help with things like that from her neighbors. So Rose headed over to a house on the other side of the street. As she made her way up the walkway she scooped up the newspaper which was waiting about halfway between the house and the sidewalk. When Rose rang the doorbell Mrs. Halverson came shuffling to the door.

"Why thank you my dear. Would you like to come in for some tea? I have a fresh pot on the stove right now." Mrs. Halverson beckoned her with one open hand.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Rose said, following her into the house. She sat down in the living room and waited for Mrs. Halverson to come back with the tea. She didn't really like tea that much, she was only ten. But she didn't want to be rude.

"So you're younger brother Michael is in a wheelchair. I'm so sorry. He is such a nice boy." Mrs. Halverson consoled.

"Yeah. He's been really down lately. We haven't been able to cheer him up at all." Rose replied, saying these same depressing words for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I've got something you can give to him for entertainment that doesn't require him to be able to walk." Mrs. Halverson said.

"That's great. What is it?" Rose asked.

"I have this autographed baseball that used to belong to my son. He's all grown up now and he has his own children. I'll bet he won't mind. Your brother likes baseball, right?" Mrs. Halverson asked, seeming unsure. With a nod from Rose she stood up and shuffled off into another room. When she came back she had a grubby looking baseball with writing on it in her hand. She reached out and placed it in Roses' hand.

"Take a look. It's autographed and everything. I'm afraid it's not in the best shape, my boy used to play catch with it. If he only knew what it was worth…Go ahead, take a look." Mrs. Halverson motioned. Rose obediently looked over the baseball. The lasing was frayed in places and the white of the leather was somewhat browned. She could see the faded writing in places written in an old-style magic marker. This was obviously before non-fading magic markers had been invented.

When Rose went to put the ball on the old wooden coffee table in front of her, but suddenly she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The inscription the baseball player had written seemed to jump put at Rose for some reason. She took a closer look and when she saw it her heart dropped in her chest. It said _"To Oliver Oken, never give up—A. Pujols."_

"Oh, dear, I'm afraid I've made a mistake." Mrs. Halverson exclaimed as she realized what Rose had seen. Now knowing that the baseball had belonged to her father and that Mrs. Halverson had kept it for some reason, Rose had no intention of giving it back, at least not until she had showed it to her father.

She held the ball tight with both hands and bolted out the front door as fast as she could. She was half way down the front walkway before Mrs. Halverson had made it to the doorway. "Get back here! Give it back! Thief!"

Rose ran home intending to show the ball to her father Oliver, and then give it to her brother to play with to help cheer him up. But Michael wasn't there, and neither was Jimmy.

"Dad…dad have you seen Michael or Jimmy?" Rose asked, slightly out of breath.

"They're at the park. Why are you out of breath?" Oliver asked, giving her a bewildered look.

"I ran here from Mrs. Halverson's!" Rose panted.

"Why did you run?" Oliver asked, perturbed.

"This is why!" she exclaimed, holding up the scuzzy baseball.

"What about it? It's a cruddy looking baseball." Oliver said looking it over.

"Look at the writing dad." Rose belted at him, eyes wide with urgency. Oliver looked at it, his eyes widened slightly.

"I haven't seen these since I was twelve. I forgot I even had that thing. I must have lost it. It played with it sometimes. Where did you find it?" Oliver asked, thinking it impossible that he wouldn't have found it when he took his things out of the storage unit he'd had them in when he lived in an apartment.

"I didn't find it. I got it back from Mrs. Halverson. She must have stolen it from you!" Rose declared.

"She wouldn't have done that." Oliver corrected her.

"Then how did she get it?" Rose demanded.

"I don't know but I'm sure there's a good reason." Oliver insisted.

"Yeah, she's a thief!" Rose stomped her foot.

"Stop that. She is not." Oliver scolded her.

"Go see if Jimmy's having any luck with Michael. We'll talk to Mrs. Halverson when you get back." Oliver instructed.

Jimmy was in the park standing behind his brother's wheelchair. "Michael, why won't you at least try to have some fun?" Jimmy begged his brother.

"I don't know." Michael uttered.

"That's what you keep saying… 'I don't know'. But I've tried everything you like to do with me. I took you to Disneyland. I almost managed to get you onto the Hannah Montana roller coaster, "The Climb"; you just sat there the whole time we were there, no smile, nothing. We went to work with dad for his Saturday morning show. I've taken you to the park every day after school, so you can get outside. I even told you all those old ghost stories before bed. You always loved it when I did that. But none of that seems to work. What's it gonna take little bro?" Jimmy pleaded.

"I don't know. Nothing seems the same anymore." Michael said, serenely.

Later on one of Jimmy's friends from school ran into them. "Hey Jimmy!" John Stokes said as he walked up.

"Hey John, what's up?" Jimmy replied.

"So I see you got yourself a girlfriend!" John teased.

"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked, his hear beginning to thump in his chest.

"I saw you and Alice Greenwood kissing under the pier last weekend! I thought she must be your girlfriend. Jimmy's got a girlfriend, Jimmy's got a girlfriend, Jimmy's got a…" John chanted.

"She's not my girlfriend! Grow up!" Jimmy said, slugging him in the arm.

"Hey, I'm just telling it like I see it!" John jabbed.

"Well she's not my girlfriend. So don't go telling people that!" Jimmy said in a commanding voice.

"What's it worth to you Jimbo?" John said, trying to act slick.

"Andy Corelli is a lot bigger than you are, John!" Rose said as she walked up to them.

"So, what?" John shot back.

"So you remember how easy it was for Jimmy to win a fight with him? How do you think you would do?" Rose said prideful.

"Rose I'm not gonna hit him. I'm not like that." Jimmy told her. He was more or less anger free lately, because of all the exercise and workouts he had been getting.

"But if you do tell anybody about that, I'll tell them it was you that let one during that eight grade Shakespeare play our class saw." Jimmy told him, with a slick look on his face which rivaled the one that had just vacated John's face.

"Ok. I see your point. Don't worry about it. I won't say anything if you won't." John agreed reluctantly.

"Gee thanks." Jimmy said sarcastically.

"Dad told me to see how you guys were doing. So… having fun?" Rose asked, hoping for a surprising answer.

"No! He's not any less mopey than he was yesterday." Jimmy snapped.

"It'd probably work better if you didn't talk about him like that right in front of him." Rose said.

"Trust me. I've tried everything, I've said everything I can think of, to try and cheer him up. He just won't snap out of it. He's just too down about this whole thing." Jimmy said, looking very discouraged.

Having no success whatsoever they took Michael home. When they got there, their mother looked angry.

"Rose I need to talk to you as soon as your brothers are out of the room." Lilly said. After a few minutes Jimmy took Michael into another room and started playing a board game with him. Michael was quickly tiring of this, because he was used to being quite a bit more active and doing things that involved running around and playing outside with his friends, which he could no longer do. He could still do things with his friends. But so far he hadn't seemed willing to.

"Ok, Rose. I got a call from Mrs. Halverson. Do you wanna explain to me what you're doing steeling from her?" Lilly asked, a firm expression on her face.

"I didn't steal anything. I took back something that belonged to dad. And besides she was trying to give it to me until she realized she'd stolen it from dad!" Rose shot back.

"I realize it belonged to dad but that doesn't mean you should just take it and run." Lilly explained.

"But it was dad's!" Rose insisted.

"I don't care. Once you found that out you should have given it back like you were asked, and then come back here and told us. Then we could have dealt with it." Lilly said, sternly.

"Ok. Fine." Rose said, grudgingly.

"Now me, you, and your father are going over there to straighten this whole thing out with Mrs. Halverson." Lilly told her. Lilly left the room and moments later returned with Oliver.

"Let's go." Oliver said to Rose.

The three of them walked over to Mrs. Halverson's house. Rose still didn't understand why she was in trouble. When they rang the doorbell Mrs. Halverson let them in promptly. When they sat down Mrs. Halverson spoke up.

"So Rose you're here to apologize from steeling that marble from me?" Mrs. Halverson asked, not a hint of guilt on her face.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Halverson. I shouldn't have taken it." Rose said, looking down at her feet.

"Wait a minute! That's very grown up of Rose. But you know that didn't belong to you. I don't know how it came into your possession. Could you possibly tell me that?" Oliver asked.

"It's mine! They belonged to my son." Mrs. Halverson insisted.

"The ball had an inscription on it. So unless your son's name is Oliver Oken, and you got Albert Pujols to sign it when he wasn't even born, then it's not yours. Now I don't believe that you would just come over and take it out of our house. So I would like to know just how you came to have it, please." Oliver said, in a business-like manner.

"Okay. You're right; of course they do belong to you. I'll tell you why I have them. I was out in my front yard, years ago, planting flowers in my garden. There were these two little boys. One of them was you. The other I didn't recognize. You were playing with that retched ball on the sidewalk directly in front of my house. And you and the other boy where making an awful racket. So I asked you to keep it down. And you kept it up. So it told you to leave and I confiscated that thing to teach you a lesson. I must have forgotten to return it to your parents. I'm sorry for making such a fuss." Mrs. Halverson told them.

"Thank you for being honest with us Mrs. Halverson. If you want to keep it then that is okay." Oliver said.

"No, not at all. It belong to you. You should have it for your son. It is an awful shame what happened to him. He's such a good little boy. He must be devastated to have to adapt to life like that." Mrs. Halverson said.

"He has been pretty down in the dumps since it happened. Nothing we try seems to be working with him. He just doesn't seem to want to cheer up at all." Lilly told her.

"How is he at school? He must have lots of good friends. After all he is such a very sweet boy." Mrs. Halverson asked.

"He's doing alright. Everybody there is being especially nice and helpful to him. But his teachers tell us he's been just as closed off with the other kids as he is with us. It's really sad to see him change from such an outgoing, likeable kid to this closed off, sad little boy." Lilly sighed.

"There's one thing you may not have tried. You are wonderful parents to all three of your children. But still, you may not have thought of this." Mrs. Halverson said.

"What? What haven't we tried? I'd like to know. We're running out of ideas." Oliver said desperately.

"Have you just tried, all of you getting together with him, and just talking to him?" Mrs. Halverson asked.

"Well, I guess so. Not really. Not so much. We've really just been trying to take him around and do things that might cheer him up. But that hasn't seemed to work. He says that nothing seems the same anymore, that he just feels a little empty. And I guess we can't blame him. It's like part of his world was just snatched away from him and now all he can do is just sit there and watch the things he loved doing just pass him by. But I think maybe talking to him about things might just be the way to get him to start living again and stop being so closed in. He is a very 'feeling' person. So I think maybe he would enjoy just being with us and talking." Lilly said, smiling.

Oliver had begun to lose focus, a little, near the end of the conversation. But just then he snapped back to attention. "Oooooh, yeah! I do remember you taking the baseball away. I was twelve. And I was playing with a friend from school that lived on this street. I lived on the other side of town near where Lilly lived then. It was me and Peter…Peter… Peter Bishop! Yeah!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Umm, Oliver we've kind moved on from that. We think we might have a way to get to Michael." Lilly said, giving him a look.

"Yeah, I know, we need to talk to him more. I totally agree." Oliver replied.

"It's been nice talking to all of you." Mrs. Halverson said, as they got ready to leave. But Oliver stopped Rose for a second.

"By the way. Since you did take that ball, after you were asked to give it back, and didn't handle it maturely, here's what's gonna happen. You are going to come over here every day after you finish your school work, for a month and help Mrs. Halverson around her yard." Oliver told his daughter.

"Ok. Fine. Alright." Rose said, mumbling a little bit.

When they got home they saw Jimmy and Michael sitting in the living room. They were both laughing hysterically. Michael was smiling for the first time in the last week, but it seemed like forever.

"What's going on here?" Oliver asked them.

"We were talking… and Jimmy… he… and… I… he said something… funny." Michael said through laughter.

"Mind if we join in. It looks like fun!" Lilly asked hopefully.

They sat down with the boys and started talking. Occasionally something would get said that would remind Michael of something he could no longer do, and he would sigh forlornly. But most of the time he was smiling or laughing happily. And at one point he even reached up and hugged Rose when she mentioned how much trouble she had gone to to find something to cheer him up. It was very clear that Michael was well on the road to being his old, happy self again. He just needed to be loved. That was the one thing he needed more than anything to adjust to his new circumstances. Love.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this third chapter of my new saga. _

_***Again, it might help understanding where the main characters came from if you have read "Meant to Be parts 5-9 or 8-9" or something. Although they are pretty much their own characters, so it might not be that hard to read without knowing where they came from._

_****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 12. Rose is 10. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8._

_*****The title "A New Life" means it is the lives of Lilly and Oliver's kids and their friend's kids. But mostly their kids. _

_******There will be more in the near future. So I hope you will continue reading._


	4. Return to Grace

_*NOTE: This is the fourth chapter of my new saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"_

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 4: A Return to Grace-**

It was very early in the morning in Malibu, and Jimmy Oken was running down the beach. This had become a regular thing for him. When he woke up every morning he didn't even have to think about what he was going to do first. He already knew he was going for a run. That was why he was getting up so early. It had been almost three months since the confrontation he had with Andy Corelli. Since then he had been working out and running hard on a regular basis. Suffice it to say the days of him being a chubby hot head that got into fights where coming to an end. He had managed to stay out of trouble ever since that fateful day. And because of the drastic change in his amount of exercise, he had slimmed down considerably, was becoming a little more toned. He still had some extra weight in the area of his stomach, but it was fading quickly. He had managed to keep his hair at the same exceptionally short length. He liked the difference and decided to make the change permanent along with the other changes he had recently made in his life.

He was running faster today because he was looking forward to seeing his two best friends Sam and Alice. He especially wanted to see Alice. This was because over the last few months he had been thinking that maybe it was possible he had some kind of feelings for Alice. Maybe that kiss had meant something after all. He was starting to realize he did really think she was cute. And she still seemed like she might have a thing for him, even though she had kept up her part of their agreement by keeping those feelings on 'the down low'.

"Hey Jimmy, over here, man!" Sam shouted from behind him. Jimmy jogged over to his two best friends. They had decided to go hang out at the mall. They where there for a while, but they didn't really see anything they wanted. So they just hung out for a while. They sat down at a table to talk. But after a while Jimmy's mind began to wander. Thoughts of Alice, who was sitting only a few feet from him, floated into his mind. Thoughts of his brother Michael, who had for the most part returned to his normal high spirited self, crossed his mind.

During the course of the time where he was zoned out he hadn't realized it but he had started singing out loud. He didn't know what he was singing because he was lost in thought and didn't even realize that he was singing.

"_I'm counting the days since I began to live without you. I'm covered in rain but it feels just like it's the sun. And it don't get me down. Don't come around. You're better off leavin' town. I'm fine here alone now without you. Hey! I'm screamin' at you. Hey! Don't care enough to write you a letter now that I'm doin' better alone. Hey! I'm screamin'…" _Jimmy sang.

"Hey! Jimmy snap out of it. Hello? You-who?" Sam shouted, snapping his finger in front of Jimmy's face, bringing him out of his own head.

"What? What happened?" Jimmy mumbled, a little disoriented.

"You zoned out and you where singing." Sam told him.

"What are you talking about? What was I singing?" Jimmy asked.

"I'm not sure. It sounded familiar. There was one lyric that kept repeating, 'Hey!'" Sam said, with a bewildered expression.

"Oh! That was a song my dad used to sing called 'Hey', I don't know where he heard it from." Jimmy told him, equally confused.

"You know you have a great singing voice Jimmy. That sounded amazing." Alice said, seeming less worried and more impressed. Jimmy rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"No. It's true. That sounded great." Sam assured him.

"Ok. I'll take you word for. I only wish I'd heard myself, cause I have no idea what I sound like. Oh well. What time is it?" Jimmy didn't wait for the answer. He pulled out his video phone and checked the time. "Oh. I gotta go in about an hour. Rose and I are gonna take Michael down to the beach. If you guys wanna come with us you can."

"Sure." Sam agreed simply.

"Ok, it sounds like fun." Alice cheerfully replied. When they were done at the mall they headed for Jimmy's house. When they got there Rose and Michael where in the living room waiting for him. Michael was on the couch and needed to be helped into his wheelchair if he was going to get anywhere. He was already dressed for the beach, and so was Rose. So Jimmy ran upstairs and changed into his beach clothes and grabbed his wetsuit, which now fit a little looser due to his new thinner physique. He ran down the stairs and plopped down next to his brother.

"So Michael, Rose… You guys ready to go?" Jimmy asked in one syllable. They both indicated that they were ready. Jimmy and Rose prepared to hoist Michael into the wheelchair. Jimmy reckoned that pretty soon he would be able to do it all on his own without any help, what with all the working out he had been doing. But for now he needed Roses' assistance. Jimmy got Michael to put his arms around his shoulders. And Rose placed her arms under the knee joints on the back of Michael's limp legs. They both lifted him into his chair. Then they got everything together to go to the beach. Jimmy began rolling his brother out the front door.

They couldn't take Michael's wheelchair onto the beach so they had to leave it chained to a bench near where the pavement ended and the sand started. From this point they carried their little brother down to the beach. This time Rose took his arms and Jimmy took his legs. They got half way down to where they wanted to set up their things when Michael said "Hey. Jimmy don't stick your fingers under my leg like that, use your arm."

"Why? What's wrong with the way I'm doing it?"

"When you put your fingers under my legs like that, it tickles." Jimmy facial reaction said he didn't believe him, but he humored his brother. Of course it didn't really tickle; he couldn't feel anything in his legs. Michael was just being cheeky. But even so his sweet smile seemed genuine.

When they found a spot to set up Alice laid out a towel and a beach chair that they had rented. Jimmy and Rose lay their brother on it, in an upright position. He put his hand on his right leg for a second with no explanation and then started talking to Sam.

"I'm gonna go change into my wetsuit." Jimmy told them.

"Why can't you do it right here?" Alice asked in an embarrassingly loud voice. Jimmy mumbled something under his breath and then walked down the beach with his wetsuit in hand. He stopped when he was sure he was out of sight. The truth was he could have changed into his wetsuit in front of them; there was nothing inappropriate involved. But he was still a little overly conscious about his possible feelings for Alice. And even though he was considerably less flabby and slightly more toned than he had been the last time he'd gone to the beach with Alice, he still wasn't sure how comfortable he would be if Alice saw him with his shirt off. It was one of those things he just couldn't explain. When he was changed he headed back over to them. He stuck his shirt in their beach bag.

The others had done their changing while he was gone. Rose and Alice had changed ahead of time. And Michael had changed with the help of their father Oliver, before they left. Jimmy jogged out to the water. He had told Michael he would show him some of the cool surfing skills he'd taught himself. So he made his way out onto the water, mounted his surf board and skimmed across a particularly large wave. After a while he returned to their spot on the beach and they hung out for a while.

"So, Michael how's it going lately? It must be rough having to have people carry you or push you around every time you wanna go somewhere." Sam said, trying not to put his foot in his mouth too much.

"I'm doing alright. I've kinda gotten used to the chair and being carried and stuff. But, yeah, it's still a little hard having to ask people to do that every time I need to move." Michael said.

"Michael, you wanna go down to the water?" Jimmy suggested.

"Sure, but not too close." Michael said, reminding them that if the tide got too high he couldn't get out of the way. So Jimmy and Rose carried him down to where the edge of the tide was hitting the sand. They pounded out a pile of sand so Michael could sit up. Then the laid him up against it. "Thanks you guys." Michael said, with a smile.

"We've been here for a couple of hours, so we're not gonna stay that much longer Michael, it's almost four." Jimmy told him.

"Just a little bit longer, I like the way the foam and the water feel on my feet." Michael said looking up at Jimmy.

"You can't feel the water on your feet little bro." Jimmy said, his brother had clearly not come to grips with reality. Michael looked up at him again.

"I know, but I like to pretend I can. I try to remember what it felt like and then it almost seems like I can still feel it." Michael answered.

"Sounds like a good way to look at things." Rose noted. Indeed, Michael had found more optimistic ways to look at things that where now limited by his disability.

"Michael if we get you home now, and get you changed, you can go over to see Susan and Robbie before dinner." Rose told him.

"Ok, let's go!" Michael said, enthusiastically. So they carried him up off the beach towards his wheelchair. He winced a little when Rose put her hand under one of his legs.

"You're a cheeky little boy aren't you Michael?" Rose said, because he was pretending to feel her fingers when he saw them under his leg. He smiled playfully down at her.

Michael arrived over at Susan's house and Jimmy left him with Miley. "Michael you are so lucky to have a big brother and sister that care about you so much. I wish my brother had been like that." Miley complained. Jackson was a more sensitive brother to Miley now. But it had taken years, and he wasn't that way as a young kid and not so much as a teenager either.

Miley wheeled him out onto the deck. Susan and Robbie where already out there. So Miley hoisted Michael down off the deck and onto a chair in the back yard. "You guys have fun. Not too much fun though." Miley said as she went back inside.

Michael was excited to get to hang out with his friends even though he could no longer do what they usually did together. He had been over to see his two best friends a lot since he had gotten out of his sad slump. But this had been the first time he'd been in Susan's backyard since his accident.

"So it must be kinda weird seeing the place where you know…" Robbie trailed off awkwardly. He was referring to the monkey bars that where across the yard. That had been the place he had fallen from and become paralyzed.

"Robbie! Be quiet!" Susan scolded her cousin.

"No, it's ok. I don't mind. It is a little weird but really it doesn't bother me that much. That's where it happened. I'm not gonna let that bother me." Michael said maturely.

"So did you have fun at the beach today?" Susan asked.

"Yeah. I keep trying to imagine what the sand feels like under my feet. But I can't walk and I can't feel anything with my feet, so I just have to imagine." Michael recounted.

"Can't you just… you know… run your hands through the sand?" Robbie suggested.

"Yeah, sorta, but it's not the same thing. But I'm okay with it." Michael answered quickly.

"Is it getting any less weird having everybody carry you places?" Susan asked him.

"I guess so. I was used to doing it myself before the accident. I mean who isn't? So having to have other people help me is kinda weird. But oh, well, it's not that bad." Michael explained half-heartedly. They had been having such a good time just talking that before they knew it an hour had gone by. Miley came out and said "Michael, time for you to go home."

Miley got him into his chair and brought him next door to the Oken house. "He was great. Susan and Robbie are looking forward to seeing him tomorrow afternoon." Miley said, and after a short exchange of words she left.

When he got in, Jimmy's friend Sam was on his way out to go home. "See ya Jimmy!" Sam projected across the room. Then Alice got up to leave and Jimmy said something to her that Michael couldn't hear.

"Hey dad I'm gonna walk Alice home, okay?" Jimmy asked.

"Don't be too long." Oliver told him. Jimmy had recently started telling his brother stories before he went to sleep. Even though Michael was eight he still liked it. And it was a good chance for Jimmy to exercise his creative muscles.

Jimmy walked Alice outside. And as soon as they were out of site of the house he spoke up. "I've been thinking about what you said about having feelings for each other." Jimmy started.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it."

"Well… I guess I changed my mind." Jimmy said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well I still think you're cute Jimmy, maybe even cuter." Alice said shamelessly. Jimmy blushed a little. "It's pretty dark out; it's kinda spooky at night around here sometimes."

"Don't worry I'll protect you!" Jimmy said, making a tough looking face and flexing his right arm muscle.

"Shut up!" Alice laughed, and smacked him in the arm.

"I think we should kiss again, Alice." Jimmy said abruptly.

"Umm… ok? I thought you said it was too weird?"

"Well… It is a little… but I think _I _might like you back. So I think we should kiss again." Jimmy said a little hesitantly. She turned and faced him.

"Well ok, let's find out."

"Alright." Jimmy said. Alice put her hand on his now firmer stomach and her other hand on the muscle of his arm. This time he didn't stand perfectly still. He put his hand onto the small of her back and leaned in. They closed their eyes and locked lips. Jimmy didn't pull away so abruptly this time, he let it last a little longer to see how he felt about it. When he pulled away he knew he definitely had feelings for her. He supposed he already knew he liked her. He was glad that this time he was sure no one was around to catch them in the act.

"So what are you thinking now Jimmy?" Alice asked him with a slight smile on her face.

"Umm, please don't tell anybody, but I do like you back." Jimmy said seriously.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She said, giggling slightly, which made him blush.

"It's still a little weird, maybe we should wait a little while before we do this again." Jimmy suggested.

"Ok, maybe you're right. So what are you doing tomorrow? Maybe you and Sam and I can do something." Alice said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I can't I have to go to the hospital with my family. My brother has to get another check up. But maybe I'll see you guys after that." Jimmy told her. They reached Alice's house and Jimmy said "So maybe I'll see you tomorrow." She put her hand through his very short hair and let out a little "Huh." Then she turned around and headed for the door.

Jimmy had a big smile on his face for the entire time that he walked home. He was now quite sure he liked Alice. A lot. But he realized it was too soon to start anything. There were still people that would make fun of him for it. He was glad Alice understood that. He was also glad she was willing to be patient. She knew all boys didn't stop finding girls weird or at least off limits until they were close to thirteen. Jimmy wasn't one of those boys. He was a very mature boy. But some of the boys they went to school with were not. So she was willing to wait for it to become acceptable. She also knew that at twelve years old she was a little too young to pair off with a boy.

When Jimmy got home his parents were there waiting for him. "Let's go put your brother in bed, okay Jimmy? We've got to get him up a little early tomorrow to go to the hospital." Lilly said. Tomorrow they were taking Michael to the hospital for the second of his monthly checkups for his disability. Mostly they wanted to make sure he was doing alright emotionally. But they also ran tests on his legs and lower back to prevent decay.

When they got Michael into bed Jimmy began to tell him a story. Jimmy was very good at describing things so it made for good story telling. Michael was good at picturing things in his mind, so he was able to just let his mind travel to wherever the story took it. Before Jimmy knew it his little brother had fallen peacefully asleep.

Jimmy looked forward to tomorrow. He did enjoy being there for his brother when they took him to the doctor but that wasn't the main reason he was excited. His mind was still filled with thoughts of what had just happened with Alice. He was excited to see her after the hospital visit.

The morning came quickly. Jimmy got out of bed quickly and pulled on some clothes. He hurried over to his brother's room where Michael was already dressed and ready to go. So Jimmy helped his father to lift Michael into his wheelchair. They got him downstairs and they were all ready to go to the hospital once more.

When they got there they quickly checked in. Lilly approached the receptionist at the front desk. "I'm her with my son for his monthly checkup. His doctor is Dr. John Dorian."

"And what is your son's name ma'am?" the receptionist asked.

"It's Michael Stanley Oken." Lilly answered. The receptionist looked at her computer.

"Very well take him up to room three-twenty-three. Dr. Dorian will be with you shortly."

When they got to the room a nurse helped Michael get changed into hospital clothes and then got him into a hospital bed in the room. Then the Okens filed into the room to be with Michael. About fifteen minutes later Doctor Dorian arrived in the room accompanied by another doctor. "I'm Dr. Cody Martin; I will be assisting Doctor Dorian with your exam today, Michael." Dr. Martin said.

They proceeded with the exam which ended with Dr. Martin scanning Michael's legs and his back. "We'll have the results in about a half an hour, please be patient." Dr. Dorian said. So the Okens sat there patiently, and about forty-five minutes later Dr. Dorian and Dr. Martin returned with a nurse that looked identical to Dr. Martin accept he was shorter and a little heavyset. The nurse leaned over and wiped the joint of Michaels arm with a disinfectant wipe, and then injected something into his arm with a syringe. They talked to Michael about how he was dealing with his disability for a few minutes. All of a sudden he started feeling weird. He wasn't quite sure what it was. He didn't feel sick or anything like that. He just felt inexplicably strange.

Just then an orderly that looked like a boy that Lilly dated in high school named Lucas came by the room and handed Doctor Dorian a folder with Michael's test results. "Well these look the same as they did last month. All I can say to you is that we are very certain that you will never be able to walk again. You are definitely paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of your life." Dr. Dorian said. He sat down on the end of the bed.

"That means he'll probably never date. He'll never know what it's like to…" Lilly started to say, becoming a little teary, but Oliver cut her off.

"We already know all this. So is there anything new you can tell us? Is there any of the decay that you said you where looking for?" Oliver asked the doctors.

"No… it's just where we want it to be." Dr. Dorian said. Michael picked this time to interject.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, this isn't something to be taken lightly. We have told you already that your condition is permanent. We where under the impression that you had begun to deal with it." Dr. Dorian said, through a light amount of tears. "What would make you think I was kidding?" Dr. Dorian said through more tears. It was heartbreaking to see a kid so young have to deal with a disability and not seem to be able to accept it.

"Well if it's true what you said, then how come I can wiggle my toes?" Michael said curiously. Of course everyone knew he was kidding. He had been doing that a lot lately, probably as a way to deal with his condition.

"What? What are you talking about Michael?" Dr. Dorian stammered.

"Look!" Michael said, exasperatedly, pointing down the bed towards his feet. Doctor Dorian stood up and pulled the sheets off of Michael's feet.

"See!" Michael exclaimed. He wiggled his toes so everyone could see. It wasn't until moments ago, Michael even realized he could do this.

"Umm ok, I was not expecting that when I saw your test results." Dr. Dorian said, a little more clearly.

"Let me try something." Dr. Dorian said. He pulled out a needle and pricked Michael's big toe. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah! I did!" Michael said excitedly. He moved the needle higher and pricked Michael's slightly shrunken leg muscle, his leg moved very slightly as a reflex, which wouldn't have happened if there was no feeling in his legs.

"Did you feel that?" Dr. Dorian asked him again.

"Yeah!" Michael said through a small grin, excitement building in him which was apparent from his tone of voice.

Doctor Dorian moved to Michael's other leg, and took out his reflex tester. He thumped Michael's knee with it lightly. His leg hopped slightly at the knee. "Amazing, we didn't really expect any improvement at all, I honestly thought this was going to be permanent." Dr. Dorian said. Michael gave him a look. "I mean it's great! I'm really happy for you, as I'm sure your family is." Dr. Dorian said with a smile. Michael looked over. His whole family was standing back with looks of shock and relief.

"Alright let me see one last thing." Dr. Dorian said. He had the nurse lift Michael forward, which he was happy to know that he would soon be able to do once again on his own. Dr. Dorian opened the back of Michael's hospital gown and pricked his back with the needle, where it had been paralyzed. Michael cringed a little. "Did you feel that Michael?" asked Dr. Dorian one last time.

"Owe! Yeah, that hurt a little!" Michael said, still overjoyed. They closed the gown and laid him back down.

"I'd like to run a few scans to make this official, but I think you could make a full recovery." Dr. Dorian said. Everyone in the room smiled brightly.

They had another nurse come in. She and the original nurse switched Michael onto a gurney to take him out for the scans. They wheeled him out. "This should only take about a half an hour." Dr. Martin said.

Fifty minutes later they brought Michael back from the labs and moved him back onto the bed. "Pretty soon you won't need anyone's help to move around anymore. You should be back to your old self in less than a year." Dr. Dorian told him.

"What kinds of things will we need to have him do to recover?" Oliver asked happily.

"Judging by what we saw on these scans we can expect it to take about three months, maybe a little more or a little less, to rebuild the lost muscle from not being able to use his legs for the past three months. And probably another three months after that where he has to use crutches for some support." Dr. Martin replied.

They looked over at Michael and noticed that a very sweet and glowing smile occupied his face from ear to ear. It was obvious that his personality was very close to returning to its former state. He seemed very cheery and incredibly friendly, just as he had been before his accident. And the way he had been close to being now that he had time to adjust. But his personality had just made a huge leap forward towards normalcy.

Within the next half an hour they had Michael dressed and ready to go home. He took solace (great comfort) in knowing that very soon he would be able to do that sort of thing all on his own again. He was very happy to know that very soon he would regain all that he had lost.

On the way home they asked him how he felt about the news. He smiled and laughed and told them how excited he was to be able to recover. He did make one slightly surprising revelation. "To tell the truth I think I've been having some feelings in my legs lately, and I just didn't know it." Michael told them.

"What do you mean, Michael?" Lilly asked him.

"Well, like when you guys took me to the beach." Michael started.

"Yeah. What about it?" Jimmy asked him.

"Well you know how I said it tickled when you put your fingers under my leg when you where carrying me? And how I said I liked the feeling of the waves on my feet?"

"Yeah, I guess." Rose said, looking at him strangely.

"Well I thought I was kidding too. I think I kind of forgot what it was like to have feeling in my legs. But I actually was feeling those things."

"Well that's great! We're all happy for you. But remember you'll always have us all here for you when you need us." Oliver told his son.

They all nodded in agreement. Michael smiled warmly. He was happy to have such a loving family that was there to support him at any time. He was also smiling because he was excited about a couple of other things. He couldn't wait to start getting his strength back, and start walking again. But he also couldn't wait to tell everybody. He wanted to let them all know as soon as possible, especially Susan and Robbie Rod. He was back, and life was good. No… it was great!

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this fourth chapter of "A New Life". I told you it would get brighter!_

_****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is 12. Rose is 10. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all 8._


	5. What Happens Next?

_*NOTE: This is the fifth chapter of my new saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 4-5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"_

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 5: What Happens Next? –**

Jimmy Oken had recently reached the age of thirteen and was unquestionably more mature than he had been the day he turned twelve. Certainly he was no longer as overly confrontational He was now much thinner. He was slightly taller. And he was a good deal more muscular. Both because of these things and in spite of them he actually weighed more than he had when he was chubby. But that was to be expected. There was one thing that also grew stronger within him day by day. His feelings for his best friend Alice seemed to develop more every moment of the day. He was only thirteen so he didn't know what love really was. But he was sure he had strong feelings for Alice and he had to follow them wherever they might lead. He no longer cared who knew. Most of his friends where now mature enough they wouldn't ridicule him for being close to a girl. What was rather more likely now was that they would envy him. He did still care who knew to some level, the difference was it just wasn't the same people he was concerned with finding out.

Rose was walking down the upstairs hallway. She had just gotten out of the shower and she had a towel wrapped around her head so that her hair could dry or just to look cool. She never really knew which one it was. She was nearly eleven and she was looking forward to another day out with her friends, especially her best friend Alex. But unfortunately for her the weather wasn't ideal. It was cloudy, windy, and a bit cold. Overall this was a very atypical day in Malibu. As she walked down the hallway she didn't think anyone was around so she began to sing. Her voice was beautiful. _Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh ohhhhh. It's us against the world. Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh 's us against the world. I'm never letting go. Come on lets run away. Just take me by the hand. We will make it. Oh-oh oh ohh-oh oh ohhhhh. It's us against the world._

She stopped when she realized that someone was indeed listening to her. "Don't stop on my account. I thought that sounded great little sis." Jimmy said, as he walked into the bathroom in an undershirt. He was not the only one who had overheard her.

Her mother came out of her room and said "Rose that sounded amazing. I've got an idea. I was only going to have Jimmy do it, cause I've heard him sing and he's willing to do it. But hearing the way you were just singing, I think you're too pass on."

"What do you want me to do mom?" Rose gagged.

"I want you to sing alongside Jimmy at Michael's surprise birthday party tomorrow."

"Mooaaamm!" Rose protested.

"Oh please? It'll be fun!" Lilly pleaded a little.

"But we don't even know if I'm that good."

"I thought you were fantastic. Besides even if you're not, who cares? It's just a bunch of eight and nine year olds. Will you do it? Please?"

"Oh, ok. But only cause I'm such a nice big sister."

"Thank you so much Rose. You have no idea how much this'll mean to your little brother."

Rose walked downstairs for breakfast and not even five minutes later Jimmy came down fully dressed. He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and an open button up shirt. He yelled up the stairs. "Hey mom I'm gonna go out and catch up with some friends, alright?"

"Okay. But come home some time before four so you can help get ready for you know what." Lilly told him, she didn't want Michael to overhear. On that word he bounded out the door.

"I wonder why he's in such a rush." Rose pondered out loud.

The truth was Jimmy wasn't going to meet his friends. He just wanted to be with one person, his best friend Alice. Whenever he was with her he was always in a good mood. No matter how lousy the weather was, and no matter how bad the rest of his day was going he was always contented when he was with Alice. It was one of those things he still could not explain.

They met at the end of the pier. But they weren't going to go out onto the pier. That was just where they decided to meet. "So what're we gonna do Jimmy?" Alice asked him as he approached her.

"I don't know I figured we could take a walk in the park or something. We could talk and stuff." Jimmy suggested, staring at his feet awkwardly.

"Ok, I guess that sounds like a date." Alice responded, no more confidently than Jimmy. They walked close together until they got to the park.

"I…I…wouldn't call it a date. Just two good friends walking in the park…" Jimmy trembled in his words, trying to prevent his face from turning the dark shade red he knew it was.

"Ok, if you say so. It's not a date." Alice humored him. They walked along the park path for a while. They talked about school and what it was going to feel like being eighth graders. "So how's your brother been doing lately?"

"Michael, oh, he's doing fine…"

"Has he been walking a lot lately?"

"Well we've been working on that with him a lot. He's still kind of weak on his feet. He needs the crutches more than not. And sometimes we have to kind of force him to get out and walk around to rebuild his strength. But most of the time he's pretty serious about the whole thing."

They had been walking for a while when they came upon a bench where they sat down together. For a while they merely sat there talking, either looking at each other or up at the grey-blue clouded sky above in moments of discomfort. But for the most part they had both matured enough emotionally that they were getting comfortable being personal, in actions and in what got said. They were comfortable enough to talk about how they felt.

"Jimmy I think you're really smart, and even cuter. Oh, and you are funny!" Alice said, her hand moving closer.

"You're definitely funny Alice," he said, he laughed at things she said all the time when other people didn't find them the least bit funny, "And I can't decide if you're smarter or prettier. It's hard to say, cause you're so pretty, but you're so smart too. Call it a tie." Jimmy said smiling into her affectionate gaze. His hand had made its way onto the same part of the bench hers was. They were now holding hands without either of them realizing they had made the move. But now that they realized what had happened they weren't moving their hands away because they were perfectly comfortable with what was happening.

They got up to walk out of the park. As they walked their hands where locked firmly together. "So Alice, we're throwing this surprise party for my little brother's ninth birthday tomorrow, you wanna come?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. Are you gonna get up and sing for everybody? You know you have such an amazing voice."

"Yeah, actually me and my sister are gonna both get up and sing. Turns out she's got a good voice too."

"That's cool, should be a lotta fun." Alice said, grinning at him.

"It might be a good chance to get him to do some walking without him realizing it."

"That way once he realizes what he's doing he'll be having too much fun and he'll just try harder to keep it up."

"Exactly, your smart is definitely showing through." Jimmy said as they approached her house. She smiled at him. "But there's the pretty again. You make it so hard to figure out!" He laughed. As they separated their hands Alice gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which made him grin like an idiot.

"See you tomorrow Jimmy!" Alice said, smiling back.

"See ya." He managed to say quietly, and just a little awkwardly.

It was nearly quarter after four, so he was already late getting home. He waited until he was out of site of Alice's house and then took off running towards his house with all the speed he could muster. When he got there he wasn't even out of breath, because he was in such great shape.

When he got there only his father, Oliver, was there. "Where have you been?" Oliver asked him.

"I was out with Sam and Alice. I must've just lost track of time, that's all." Jimmy covered himself with a little fib.

"Ok, well grab some stuff and help me take it over to Jackson's house. That's where the party's gonna be." Oliver instructed him. Jimmy did as he was told picking up a couple of boxes of supplies.

"So where's Michael? He must be wondering what's going on."

"He's in the basement doing leg exercises on that machine that the doctors loaned us."

They went over to Jackson's house with the things they had gotten together. They couldn't put anything up until tomorrow because they didn't want anything to get rained on or blown away. "So what did you get for Michael?" Rose asked Jimmy.

"I got him something good, but I still wanted to get him something that would really say 'Worlds Best Big Brother', you know what I mean?" Jimmy said, scratching his head.

"Well you really liked what you got for your birthday right? What did Michael get you?"

"You all chipped in and bought me that weight lifting set, remember?"

"Oh, yeah that's true, I guess that doesn't help."

"Yeah, besides I don't think he's much into that sort of thing."

"Well I don't know what to tell you."

"I'll think of something. And if I don't then I've always got what I already have for him."

Jimmy had gotten his brother the latest hand held video game, but when he had gotten to thinking about it, he figured that probably wasn't the best thing to get for a kid that was recovering from being paralyzed. He needed to get him something that required walking, as encouragement to use his feet.

Jimmy had been running down the beach all evening trying to think. Running helped to focus him. When he finally came up with what he could get, it was almost time for him to be home, it was nearly ten o'clock. He ran up to the surfing shack formerly known as Rico's. They were getting ready to close. "Can I help you sweetie?" A girl in her twenties, who looked at lot like Rico, asked from behind the counter.

"Yeah I need to get a good surf board and a wetsuit that'll fit a nine year old." Jimmy told the girl.

"You don't look nine to me!" The girl said through a confused and dizzy grin.

"I'm not. It's for my little brother, he's turning nine tomorrow and I wanna get it for him cause he wants me to teach him some surfing tricks. He's out grown his old wetsuit since the last time he was able to use it, and I thought he'd like a new board." Jimmy explained in frustrated detail.

"Oh, silly me, why didn't you just say so?" The girl giggled. "Well I'll help you with the wetsuit first. What's his favorite color?"

"It's blue, he loves blue."

The girl responded by turning around and retrieving a blue and black wetsuit in Michael's size.

"That'll be great. What about the board?"

"Umm here, I think he'll love this one." She said with her hands on a light blue and white surf board, which glistened from a new coat of wax.

"That looks awesome, he'll love that! How much do I owe you?" Jimmy began to rush things.

"It comes to one hundred and seventy-five dollars ma-aan." The girl said like a bad stereotype of a 'surfer dude'.

"Ok, he better like it, this is almost all my allowance money from the last year." Jimmy said, grudgingly handing over the money. He tucked the board under his arm holding on to the side facing downwards and picked up the wetsuit in his other hand. He jogged over to Jackson's house. Robbie Rod was outside throwing out the trash.

"Hey man. Can I put this in the back? It's for Michael's birthday tomorrow. I don't want him seeing it." Jimmy asked Robbie.

"Oh wow, sweet board Jimmy. He'll love it for sure! Come on in real quick I'm supposed to be in bed already." Robbie said. Jimmy followed him in and hid the board and the wetsuit behind a sofa near all the other birthday stuff.

"Thanks man, see you all tomorrow!" Jimmy said, making his way out the front door. He ran up the steps to his house and went inside. From there he went straight up to his room where he slipped into his pajamas and fell asleep promptly. Almost immediately thoughts of Alice entered his sleeping mind. Even though it was his brother's birthday he was looking forward to seeing her at the party. Since he was there mainly for Michael, so he told himself he wasn't going to get too worked up about Alice.

"Wake up Jimmy…come on… wake up!" Rose pleaded with him. It was eight o'clock in the morning. She was shaking him fiercely, trying to wake him.

"Easy little sis, I'm up… I'm up." Jimmy sighed, rolling out of bed. He pulled off his shirt to get changed into something for the day.

"Eww wait till I'm outta the room. Geez!" Rose whined.

"What? You've seen me at the beach."

"Yeah, but not in the house." Rose said, bolting for the door.

"Well that'll teach you to wake me up in the middle of a good dream." Jimmy said sarcastically. Then he pulled on a shirt with a v-neck and changed into some dark blue jeans.

He walked down the stairs and ate some breakfast quickly so he could join the rest of his family as they headed over to Jackson's house to set up for the party. They hung banners and set up games. And lastly they set up the area where Jimmy and Rose would be singing.

Two hours later they returned home for Michael. They found him, sitting, fully dressed in the living room. He had limped down the stairs all by his self, using the railing for support the whole way down. "Where's everybody been?" Michael asked curiously.

"The real question is where've you been little bro? Wah-huh." Jimmy said, making a funny face and sticking his tongue out. Michael laughed faintly.

"We want you to come with us, but you have to walk the whole way." Lilly told him.

"No problem just let me get my crutches." Michael said, pulling himself up out of his chair.

"No, you have to walk without them Mikey." Rose told him.

"But I can't!" Michael pouted.

"Yes you can! You're just being stubborn." Jimmy corrected him.

"No I'm not, I'm serious." Michael insisted.

"You got down the stairs without them." Oliver said pointing at the crutches that where next to the front door.

"You can't come if you don't walk there without the crutches. And trust me you'll be missing out big time if you don't come." Jimmy said, trying not to drop too big of a hint but still be convincing.

"Ok, fine I'll try! But somebody better catch me if I fall!" Michael agreed reluctantly.

As they walked over to Jackson's house, Michael limped most of the way. His legs were still stiff and he had not regained all of the strength to walk normally. That's why he was reluctant to walk without the support he enjoyed from his crutches. But they had arrived before long. To get to where the party was set up they walked through the house and into the back yard.

"Wow, this is great!" Michael said enthusiastically.

"Happy Birthday Michael!" Everyone shouted in unison. Besides the Okens, there was Robbie Rod and his parents, Miley and Susan, and some of Michael's friends from school.

The games they played did not require a lot of running around, because even though they were encouraging Michael to exercise his leg muscles he was still far too weak to do anything that called for his usual hyperactive level of energy. So they did things such as throwing contests, where they saw who could throw a softball the farthest. They used softballs because not too long ago Robbie Rod had broken the neighbors' window pitching a baseball in the back yard.

After about an hour of games they decided it was time for presents. Robbie went first.

"Wow a baseball glove. Cool we can go out and practice when my legs are better!" Michael exclaimed.

Robbie had gotten him that because he was very much into baseball and wanted Michael and Susan to practice with him. Susan offered him her present next.

"Oh cool a skateboard kit. I'll use this for the new skateboard I got right before my…uh… accident, yeah. Thanks!" Michael grinned, his face turning pink. He had bought a new skateboard with all of his saved up allowance money, but he'd never been able to use it because of the accident, but he knew he definitely would as soon as he was strong enough. Next Rose gave him what she had gotten for him.

"Neat a karaoke microphone, but…?" Michael trailed off.

"I figured if Jimmy and I have good singing voices, you probably do too Mikey!" Rose smiled.

"Yeah, I hope so!" Michael said, trying not to be rude. He'd probably feel left out if he didn't have a decent singing voice like they did. His parents gave him a holographic video game system that all the parents had chipped in for.

"Thanks you guys." Michael said, smiling rather unenthusiastically. It was another one of those gifts he couldn't quite use yet because he couldn't stay on his feet for too long.

When it was Jimmy's turn he stood up and handed him the lesser of his presents.

"Here's the first thing I got you."

"Thanks Jimmy, I've wanted this for so long!" Michael said beaming. It was the hand held video game system. The truth was he hadn't wanted it for that long; it had only been available for maybe four months and it was nothing compared with the one the adults bought him.

"…But wait there's more. When I got to thinking, I figured you might wanna have something for when you got all of your strength back. So I got you these." Jimmy said, as he moved the surf board and the wetsuit over in front of Michael.

"Oh Man! Thank you so much Jimmy! This is soooo cool! The wetsuit is great, and I even like the color! And the board… Wow!" Michael gushed; he eased himself up into a standing position and gave Jimmy a tight hug.

"Ok, well for one more surprise, Jimmy and Rose are going to provide a little musical entertainment. They're gonna get up and sing for us." Lilly said. Oliver, Jackson, and Miley got up behind them and manned the instruments. They began the song confidently.

_Shout shout shout it out. From the roof top let it out. Shout shout shout it. Till the world can hear it now. I don't know what to say or do. It's so hard to scream it. Shout shout shout it out. From the roof top let it out. Shout shout shout it. Till the world can hear it now. I don't know what to say or do; it's so hard to shout it out to you. (So hard to shout it out to you)_

When they finished everyone clapped and applauded. "You guys, that was great!" Michael smiled and hugged them both. Michael was a kid that loved his hugs. Then for a while Michael hung out with Susan, Robbie, and the rest of his friends. Meanwhile Jimmy and Alice wandered off for a few minutes, unnoticed.

"I'm gonna go in and get the cake. Oliver come and help me." Lilly told her husband. She and Oliver walked into the house. She began washing her hands in the sink. When she looked out the window, she saw something that meant her kids singing wasn't the last surprise of the party. There stood Jimmy and his best friend Alice. Their arms around each other's' wastes, their eyes were closed, and their lips where locked. They were sharing a warm, happy kiss.

"Oliver, look." Lilly whispered. He walked over to the window.

"Oh man, he's livin' up to the smokin' Oken name!" Oliver cheered, quietly.

"Oliver!" Lilly scolded, giving him a dirty look. Obediently he went out the front door, so he wouldn't create a scene, and came over to the pair at the side of the house, out of sight of the party.

"Ok, you two that's enough… I said that's enough!" Oliver shouted. They jumped apart. They both were red in the face. Not so much because they were embarrassed about what they were doing, they weren't. It was mostly embarrassment over having been caught in the act.

"Jimmy your mom and I need to talk to you. Alice you can go back to the party, I'll have a word with your parents." Oliver admonished them. Both of Alice's parents worked with Oliver, so it wouldn't be that hard to talk to them at the same time. He had a feeling that they wouldn't be too angry, but then neither where Lilly and he.

"You know why we're mad at you, right?" Lilly yelled at him.

"Well I think I know why you're mad at me. Dad, not so much." Jimmy answered, not being very careful.

"Don't get smart Jimmy!" Oliver snapped.

"Cause Alice and I where kissing." Jimmy said, looking down at him feet.

"No, it's because you snuck out of your brother's party and started kissing, right when you should have been having a good time with the rest of us." Lilly retorted.

"Well he was having a good time with someone." Oliver said sarcastically. Lilly slugged him in the stomach. He knew she was right, and she wasn't mad about the kissing itself. "Your mom's right. You should have been out with the rest of us. What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna go back out there and hang out with everybody, and then I'm not gonna see Alice for a week." Jimmy replied maturely.

"All right then." Lilly agreed. He went back out and moments later he shouted for them to come out.

"Mom, dad, it's Rose." He said, worriedly.

"What about her? What's wrong?" Oliver shouted, panic in his voice.

"My side hurts really bad." Rose grumbled.

"What kind of pain? Is it a sharp pain?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah." Rose said, hazily. Lilly felt her forehead.

"She's burning up. How long have you been like this?" Lilly demanded.

"I've been hot all day, but it didn't bother me that much. The pain just started a couple minutes ago." Rose mumbled.

"Ok. Oliver, call the doctor, I've seen this in my kids at school. I think she has appendicitis." Lilly ordered.

**-TO BE CONTINUED-**

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this fifth chapter of my new saga. _

_****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is __**13**__. Rose is __**10, nearly 11**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**8-9**__._


	6. Something's Coming

_*NOTE: This is the sixth chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 4-5 years before the end of "Meant To Be"_

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

_*In this story there will be several instances where two different paragraphs (or sections of paragraphs) are supposed to occur at the same time, in other words its two perspectives of the same part of the story. Sometimes it will be noted. But the second paragraph will start with the first words in italics, that's how you will know this is happening._

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 6: Something's Coming –**

It was a typical day in Malibu. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Kids were playing. People where laughing and having a good time. Lawns were being mowed. Children rode their bicycles down the street. A mother had caught her son kissing his best friend. There was even a birthday party that had just ended abruptly with one of the people in attendance leaving with her mother to go to the hospital because she had appendicitis. No one expected that in just one short hour devastation would visit their calm, normal lives.

Shouting came from the backyard in which the birthday party was being held. Lilly Oken heard her older son yell to her.

"Mom, dad, it's Rose." He yelled in distress. It seemed as if her daughter was in trouble.

"What about her? What's wrong?" Oliver, her husband screamed.

"My side hurts really bad." Rose grumbled.

"What kind of pain? Is it a sharp pain?" Lilly asked her ailing daughter.

"Yeah." Rose moaned, hazily. Lilly felt her forehead.

"She's burning up. How long have you been like this?" Lilly examined further.

"I've been hot all day, but it didn't bother me that much. The pain just started a couple minutes ago."

"Ok. Oliver, call the doctor, I've seen this in my kids at school. I think she has appendicitis." Lilly moved very quickly. "Ok, I'm gonna take Rose to the hospital. You take care of everything here Oliver. She doesn't need everyone around her until after she's better."

Lilly lifted Rose into her arms and jogged over to their house where her car was parked. She buckled Rose into the passenger seat and drove for the hospital. Jackson and Marlene called all of the kids parents and had them picked up promptly.

Oliver looked to Miley for some assistance. "Jackson, can I leave Michael over here for a while? I need to take Jimmy and Alice over to our house and have a talk with them in private."

"Sure thing, he can stay with Susan and Robbie as long as he wants." Jackson replied.

"Oh and Miley, could you come with us? I think we might need a female's perspective on this one."

"Uhh, sure." Miley agreed, following them, utterly confused.

They made their way quickly to the Oken house. "What is it you need my help with?" Miley asked Oliver.

"Well after Jimmy finished his performance, he and Alice here snuck off to the side of the house and got a little personal."

"What's that supposed to mean? You caught them making out?" Miley asked, without tact.

"Yes! Lilly and I caught them...making out." Oliver told her, not amused by her lack of discretion.

"So what? They're thirteen, it happens."

"It wasn't that they where kissing. It's that they snuck off when they should have been with everybody else."

"Well, let me talk to Alice." Miley suggested. She walked off with Alice into another room. "So, do you really like him?"

"Yeah, of course. Why else would I be kissing him?" Alice said, crinkling her forehead.

"Well you could just be…Why do you like him anyway?" Miley asked her, as if she couldn't reason the answer herself.

"I've known him all my life and well…lately I've started really liking him…a lot. I don't know. He's really smart."

"What kind of smart? Cause I remember his dad is a kind of smart, just not really intelligent. He was a smart mouth."

"Well he's that too, he does know how to be sarcastic. But he doesn't seem to do that with me. What I meant was he's smart because he's quicker than a lot of people. He is intelligent, really intelligent. And you know how a lot of boys say really stupid stuff? He never does. That's what I really meant when I said he was smart. And, oh yeah, he's really nice. He's always been like that."

"Ok, well that's good, cause that means you've given it a lot of thought…and you like him."

"Of course I have. Just cause I'm thirteen doesn't mean I'd go for a guy just cause he's cute. And Jimmy is really really cute!" Alice said, smiling gleefully.

I know. I wonder how that happened. Cause Oliver is just so… normal looking. That's one reason I never… well never mind."

"I really like him a lot so I hope it's not gonna get us into a lot of trouble. I mean we were just kissing, right?"

"Yeah that's true. But they weren't mad at you for kissing him. It's cause you two snuck out of his brother's party to do it."

"I get that. So you think we're gonna be in a lot of trouble?"

"No, I think Oliver's cool. He just wants you two to know that there's a time and a place and that wasn't… do you feel that?" Miley wondered aloud. There was a rumbling feeling in the floor.

_As Alice and Miley_ walked off into another room, Oliver turned to his son. "So, are you gonna tell me what's going on with you and Alice?"

"I don't know. We've been hanging out a lot lately and I'm really starting to like her more than just a friend."

"Would you like to explain that? I'd really like to know why we caught you sneaking off and kissing her. What's so great about her that it made you do that?" Oliver asked sternly. Jimmy didn't really want to explain it. It was rather embarrassing to explain why he liked a girl to his father. But he did it anyway, because he knew he had to. Holding back would just cause more trouble. He did respect his father in that he was honest and open with him.

"I don't know. I just started really liking her lately. She's been my best friend since before I can remember."

"And you just go and kiss your best friend at your brother's birthday party? We didn't raise you that way."

"Uhhh dad isn't that how you and mom got together. You where best friends and then you realized you liked each other more than that." Jimmy said matter of factly.

"That's true but we're talking about you. Do you want to do everything just like me?" Oliver asked. But the truth was there where several major differences between them in the way they did things at that age.

"Umm, I guess not."

"What makes her so special? Other than being your best friend. Why do you think she's any different than other girls you know?"

"I don't know. I guess it's cause she's really smart, for one thing. She's always been really nice to me, as a friend. She never gets mad when I say stupid stuff. She always seems to just get me. She's just really special to me."

"And that's why you kissed her?"

"I think I love her dad." Jimmy stated with an awkward smile on his face.

"You don't love her. You're only thirteen. You don't know what love is. One day you loved cheeseburgers. Now you don't anymore. Now you love being more athletic. You might not feel the same way about her in a month. You're a thirteen year old boy. Your mind changes about things every other day." Oliver told him.

"Well I've liked her like this for at least a year. I don't think these feelings are going away dad."

"Ok, tell me about these feelings." Oliver demanded. Jimmy's level of discomfort was rising, but he obeyed any way.

"Well when I look into her eyes I just feel really good about her. Not turned on or anything. I just feel this feeling like no one else could be as perfect as she is. She's smart. She's beautiful. And she seems like she really likes me. And when I look at her I just want to hold her hand. And then I want to kiss her. I don't know how to explain it at all." Jimmy said, now incredibly embarrassed over what he had revealed to his father.

"Well I'm not gonna say you can't kiss her. I just don't want you doing it when you should be acting responsible."

"I know dad. I knew it as soon as you came over to us. Actually I probably knew it before that. I just really wanted to be alone with her."

"You know you're really smart Jimmy. I'm proud of you."

"Do you feel something?" The floor had started to rumble and things in the house started rattling a little.

_As the others_ walked off Jackson turned to Michael, Susan, and Robbie.

"Ok well when your mom calls we'll take you down to the hospital to see Rose, ok?" Jackson said to Michael.

"Alright." He responded, too stunned to say anything else. In the mean time they started playing catch. Michael used his new catchers' mitt that Robbie had given him.

"Good catch man!" Robbie commented. Michael threw the ball back to Robbie who caught it in his own mitt.

"Geez, don't throw so hard man!" Robbie cringed.

"Throw to me!" Susan beckoned with her mitt stretched out. Robbie tossed the ball over to her. She threw to Michael. When he pitched it back he got a similar reaction from her.

"Michael quit throwing so hard!" Susan shouted in a very irritated voice.

"Ok. My legs are starting to get a little tired anyway." Michael was forced to admit. He headed for a chair. His legs where still weak he couldn't stand on them for extended periods of time without tiring himself out.

Marlene came out and smiled welcomingly.

"Would you guys like to come in and cool off?" she asked them. All three of them followed inside behind Marlene. Michael found the nearest couch and collapsed onto it. It was a good thing it was close by, his legs where just about to give out. No sooner than they all got comfortable did they feel a rumbling and the floor started to shake. Things started to fall off the tables.

"Alright it's an earthquake, everybody into doorways. Michael you stand with me. I'll help you stay standing. You all know the drill. No funny business Robbie." Jackson directed. They all got into standing positions in the doorways leading onto the living room.

_Lilly and Rose approached_ the hospital in the car and pulled up to the emergency care entrance. Lilly lifted Rose out of the car and carried her inside. She approached the admissions desk and began to address the receptionist.

"I'm Lilly Oken. I think my daughter has appendicitis. Where do I take her?"

"Take her over there to exam room three. A doctor will be with you momentarily." Lilly did as she was told, carrying Rose into the exam room and laid her down on the bed. Fifteen minutes later Rose was holding her mother's hand tightly.

"Mom it hurts really bad." Rose moaned. At that moment a doctor with curly hair walked in.

"I'm Doctor Cox. What can I do for you?"

"I think my daughter has appendicitis."

"Ok we'll need to run some tests and if they come back positive than we should be able to get her into an operating room very shortly." He felt her forehead and took her temperature. "You are definitely running a fever. Mrs. Oken if you'll help me get her onto the gurney I can get her down to the labs for the tests."

Lilly walked over and lifted Rose onto the gurney near the door. A male nurse around Lilly's age came in and pushed Rose off towards an elevator.

"If the tests come back positive we will move her to an operating room immediately. But we'll have a nurse keep you informed every step of the way." Dr. Cox told her in a comforting voice. Lilly walked out of the room and sat down in the waiting room. A nurse handed her an electronic clipboard. "We need you to fill out this insurance information." The nurse told her without making any eye contact, almost as if he didn't want her to see his face.

"But I already showed another nurse my insurance card."

"Well we still need you to update your information." The nurse mumbled, walking off in a hurry.

Fifteen minutes later a different nurse approached Lilly where she was seated in the waiting room.

"Lilly Oken?"

"Yes, that's me." Lilly replied looking up at the nurse.

"Doctor Cox has informed me that your daughter does indeed have appendicitis and needs to be operated on immediately. She has been taken down to an operating room and they should be beginning the procedure shortly." The nurse explained.

"How long do you think it should take?"

"About one hour. There's no need to worry, everything will be just fine Mrs. Oken."

"So when will I be able to see her?"

"About twenty minutes after the procedure we will let you into the recovery room. That's when she should be regaining consciousness." The nurse informed her plainly. A little over an hour later Doctor Cox came over to speak with Lilly.

"The surgeons have told me that your daughter's operation went exactly as planned. You should be able to see her in about ten minutes."

"That's great I…" Lilly began to utter. But just then the floor started trembling and security guards began to run. "Lilly don't worry, looks like an earthquake. But the hospital's built to withstand this kind of thing so it should be alright if you just stay where you are. Rose will be just fine where she is." Dr. Cox ran off toward the critical care ward.

_Back at the Oken_ house they where scrambling.

"It's an earthquake you guys! Get in the doorways!" Miley yelled. Alice made a bee-line towards Jimmy. At this point they had no choice but to stand in the same doorway. Not that bothered them at all. Miley ran for the door-less opening onto the kitchen. And Oliver stood in the other opening to the kitchen.

When it really started shaking hard Alice grasped Jimmy around his waist, wrapping her arms around him for dear life. He was very mature about it and put his hand around the back of her head, holding her face against his chest. Something fell in the living room which made Alice grip Jimmy even tighter. Oliver let out a high pitched scream. Miley yelled over to him.

"Oliver, you spineless donut!"

After several minutes the earthquake stopped and they all began to recover their frayed nerves. Jimmy and Alice didn't move a muscle. Alice merely leaned up a little and whispered to Jimmy.

"Thank you so much. You're so brave. You don't know how much it meant to have you hold me."

"You were really brave too. You didn't scream like my dad or anything. You just needed somebody to hold onto. You know what I mea…" Jimmy started to say. He was cut off by Alice who leaned up a little bit and kissed him on the lips. He put his hands on the back of her neck, and kissed her back. She moved her hands onto the side of his chest. But just as they were starting to enjoy themselves the ground began to tremor again. They stopped kissing a split second before it happened.

It was an aftershock. It rocked the floor under them. Jimmy and Alice lost their balance. Jimmy fell onto the floor, flat on his back. Alice toppled over and landed face forward on top of him. Her face slammed into his chest and her hands broke her fall and so did Jimmy's body. Her right hand hit the floor beside him and her left slammed into his stomach, winding him and pushed his shirt up to the bottom of his chest. He was thinner than he had once been, his stomach still a little fleshy, but it didn't embarrass him as much as it would have had he still been chubby.

What did embarrass him was when his father and godmother Miley came in and found them like this, Alice sprawled over him, her hands on his stomach.

"Umm this is a little awkward. What are you two doing?" Oliver asked, trying to conceal a slightly immature grin. Alice jumped up promptly. Jimmy lay there with his shirt still up past his stomach. He was still too winded to do anything.

"Uhh we fell!" Alice exclaimed quickly, her face a deep shade of red.

"Then why did it look like his shirt was being taken off?" Miley asked crassly.

"My hand pushed it up when I fell on him." Alice answered awkwardly, and albeit a little insulted.

"But I still don't understand why you had your hand on his stomach when we came in." Miley said, judgmentally. Alice looked down at Jimmy's somewhat toned yet not quite thin midsection and blushed. Jimmy had caught his breath. He pulled his shirt down and sat up.

"She was checking out my awesome bod!" he said, in a macho voice.

"Shut up!" Alice shouted, punching him in the arm.

"Gosh. First you fall on me and wind me. Now you're trying to bruise me! I feel threatened." Jimmy joked. Alice smacked him in the chest with her open palm. This obnoxious behavior may have been both their attempts to stave off the urge to start kissing again.

_Meanwhile about five minutes_ earlier a different situation was taking place at Jackson's house. The floors had begun to vibrate with great intensity. Jackson and Michael where standing in an archway that led onto the living room.

"Are you okay big guy?" Jackson asked, looking down at Michael by a little over a foot in height.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much longer I can stand up. My legs are really weak."

"Don't worry, I've got you. Just say the word."

Marlene was standing in the opening to the kitchen. Robbie Rod and Susan where standing in another opening that led from the kitchen to the living room. As the floor began to quake violently Michael exclaimed "I'm gonna fell!" his legs were about to give out under him.

"I got ya!" Jackson responded. He had Michael turn around and then he slipped his right arm under Michael's right arm, over his chest, and then out under his left arm. That way he was able to hold him up.

After several minutes the shacking stopped. They all collected themselves. But the aftershock took them a little by surprise. Robbie bumped into the door frame that he and Susan were standing in.

"Woops! Did you clunk your head?" Susan sneered.

"No! I'm fine." Robbie snapped back.

"Oh well there was nothing up there anyway!" Susan teased.

"Hey!" Robbie whined.

"Just kidding!" Susan said, entertained. At that same moment Michael had fallen onto the floor.

"Oh, geez. Michael 're you okay?" Jackson asked, bending over to help Michael up.

"I'm fine. No problem at all." Michael assured him, as he got up with a little help.

"Are you sure you're alright sweetie?" Marlene asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Really, I'm fine. It happens all the time. But I just get back up again. No problem." Michael insisted.

"Oh Michael are you okay?" Susan asked as she walked over to him, not having been in the room she didn't know he'd already answered the question several times. Susan was not even nine yet. But she had always liked Michael a little more than just a friend. But she wasn't really aware of it on a conscious level. It was all in the deep depths of her mind at this point.

Ten minutes later the video phone rang. Jackson pushed the 'answer' button to activate the video display.

"Hey Lilly. How's Rose doing? Is she gonna be alright?" He asked her head and upper body which were seated in a hospital room. Michael sat next to Jackson listening for news about his sister.

"She's fine. They operated on her. They were able to finish right before the whole earthquake started. You guys should come down. She might want some visitors in an hour or so. I'm gonna let Oliver know, so he'll be there."

"Okay we'll be there as soon as possible." Jackson said, then ended the call, Lilly vanished from the screen.

"You here that Michael? We're gonna go meet up with your dad and brother. Then we'll go to the hospital and you can see your sister."

"Okay!" Michael exclaimed, a little hastily. They walked down the sidewalk toward the Oken house next door.

The destruction on their street wasn't substantial but there was enough to spark some concern. Just as Jackson and the rest approached the front door, Oliver came walking out with Jimmy behind him.

"Alice I guess you should come with us. Call your parents. Cause we really don't have time to stop at your house." Oliver told her. Alice's house was situated on the adjoining street and was less than thirty seconds away in the car. But it was in the opposite direction from the hospital. Alice got out her video cell phone and told her father what was going on.

"Okay Mr. Oken."

"Jackson, Lilly told me that you guys are coming so let's hurry." Oliver directed. They headed towards their respective cars. Michael was going with the Stewarts. But before they got to the cars a police officer approached them.

"Do any of you know a woman named Gretchen Halverson? She's an elderly woman that lives in that house about seven houses down from here on the other side of the street." The officer asked them.

"Of course we know Mrs. Halverson." Jackson told the officer.

"Why do you ask?" Oliver wondered.

"Because, as you can see her house collapsed in the front. And unfortunately that's where she was when it collapsed. I'm sorry to say she did not survive." The officer said, a grim expression on his face.

"Oh my gosh. That's terrible." Marlene said, somberly.

"Also, are any of you related to Robbie Ray Stewart?" The officer asked.

"We're his kids." Jackson said pointing at Miley.

"Well he was in the basement of his house and the door is stuck. Firemen are trying to get it opened. So there's nothing to worry about." The officer explained.

"He'll be fine. That's where he has the fridge where he keeps all his pie!" Miley commented.

They all got into their cars and drove off for the hospital. Lilly met them in the waiting room.

"The nurses told me she's just waking up now. So we can all go see her." They all followed her down a hallway. Jimmy and Alice were holding hands behind Jimmy's back, so no one could see it.

They walked into the room and saw Rose. She was partially sitting up in the bed with her head resting firmly against the pillows.

"Hey you guys." Rose said in a drowsy voice.

"Hey little sis. You doing alright?" Jimmy asked her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired…I think." Rose uttered.

"Well later they'll let you have something to eat. And tonight you can come home." Lilly said sofly.

"Jimmy can you come here?" Rose asked. Jimmy came over to her side, Alice was still directly behind him.

"Come a little closer." Rose beckoned. Jimmy leaned in, he and Alice stopped holding hands cause people might see it when he was leaning in.

"A little closer." Rose practically whispered. Jimmy leaned in so close that he was the only one who could hear what she said.

"Why where you holding hands with Alice just now? She's really nice. So if she's you're girlfriend now, then I'm really happy for you big bro." Rose said, in a quiet and groggy voice into Jimmy's ear.

"She isn't. Not yet. But maybe soon… let's hope." Jimmy whispered so only she could hear. Then he stood back up and said "Yeah that's true, you slept through a good earthquake, it was really something." He was covering so no one would wonder what she was asking him. But when he said 'really something' in his mind he was thinking of what had happened between Alice and him. He really did hope that someday she would want to be his girlfriend. Outwardly he had meant the earthquake was really intense.

Later that night they left with Rose and took her home. Jimmy and Alice sat next to each other on the car ride back. They were holding hands on the seat between them. Again no one could see.

"Alice I'll drop you off at your house, okay?" Oliver offered.

"No, I'll walk her home and then come right back. Okay dad?" Jimmy insisted in a suspiciously urgent tone.

"Ok Jimmy, but remember cause of what happened at the party you don't get to see her after this till next week." Oliver told him. They pulled into the driveway. Oliver carried Rose into the house and tucked her into her bed.

In the mean time Alice and Jimmy walked down the street as the sun set. As soon as they passed out of eye line of the Oken house their hands joined at their sides. As they approached the front door of her house Jimmy braced himself to say goodbye to her.

"Bye Alice. See you next week." She came closer to him. He thought maybe she would just hug him this time because of the remark he'd made about her hand on his stomach. But she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. She pulled away, looking into his eyes and said "I can't wait!" She smiled and looked down at his midsection, but she quickly moved her focus back into his piercing blue eyes.

They parted ways and both smiled until they were back with their parents. The day had taken several unexpected twists. Some of which people where delighted with. Others made people think of how lucky they were. Some even realized that they could in fact get sick of pie. Most of all people learned that friendships and togetherness can bring them through anything.

_**Explanation**__: I realize that parts of this chapter are a little racy (very mildly graphic). But to be honest things between a boy and a girl at that age, who like each other are a little awkward. And things that are a little colorful sometimes happen. So I didn't want to avoid mentioning those things. I want this story to be realistic, but not too racy._

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this sixth chapter of my new saga. _

_***Again, it might help understanding where the main characters came from if you have read "Meant to Be parts 5-9 or 8-9" or something. Although they are pretty much their own characters, so it might not be that hard to read without knowing where they came from._

_****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is __**13**__. Rose is __**10, nearly 11**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**8-9**__._

_*****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	7. Hope and Anticipation

_*NOTE: This is the seventh chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 4 years before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_*Anyway, I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 7: Hope and Anticipation–**

_Previously (Chapter 1):_

_Jimmy Oken tasted blood between his teeth as the second blow from a fist made contact with his cheek and his gums split open. It had taken all of his self control to keep his fist off of Andy Corelli's jaw. But that was no longer an option. Jimmy unleashed his anger with a right hook that sent Andy dazedly into a trash can that fell over from the impact. Jimmy wasn't the thinnest person around, he was slightly chubby. Andy on the other hand was very much overweight. He was at least forty pounds heavier than Jimmy. But thing that made him a little less imposing and slightly larger in appearance was the fact that he was a good two inches shorter than Jimmy. As soon as he turned his back to walk off Andy lunged at him and grabbed him from behind and tried to wrestle him down. During the struggle Andy would not let go of Jimmy's midsection at all. At one point Jimmy's shirt pulled up a little exposing his slightly flabby stomach._

Now:

Jimmy was walking into the school building to get cleaned up. He had just finished a long and intensive track practice. He was by far the fastest runner on the team. And he owed it slightly to the person who now stood before him, barring his path to the gym and the locker rooms. He had after all created the motivation within Jimmy that caused him to exercise obsessively in that he ran all the time and worked out almost as much. The massive figure of Andy Corelli loomed before him. Andy was still several inches shorter than Jimmy. And even though Jimmy weighed more than he had a year ago due to greater height and newfound muscular strength, Andy nowadays weighed close to one hundred pounds more than Jimmy. Suffice it to say Andy was massively overweight, and his ego was massively oversized too. But his common sense was greatly lacking.

"What do you want Andy?" Jimmy grumbled apprehensively. He really hoped Andy wasn't in a bad mood because he didn't have time to deal with it. He just wanted to get home and finish studying for all tests he had coming up. It was bordering on the end of his eight grade year. In a couple of months he would be on summer vacation and getting set for high school. He wanted to go into it all with a good record. This meant he needed to keep his grades at the exceptionally high level they were consistently at by keeping up his studying. For this reason he did not want to have to butt horns with Andy Corelli and rage issues. He didn't see why Andy was coming to him. Andy usually preyed on more helpless kids, not that Jimmy approved of it. Jimmy had easily overpowered him on a number of occasions and imagined Andy knew better than to try going another round with him. And at any rate Jimmy had, almost a year back, made up his mind not to stoop to physical violence. He had decided to dispose of any internal anger through athleticism.

He was hoping that Andy didn't have that same mindless fury coursing through him that so often drove him to terrorize other students.

"Oken, you got four bucks? I wanna get some chocolate from the vending machine." Andy blurted out.

"No Andy. I don't have any money on me right now. See… no pockets." Jimmy replied sarcastically, pointing at his track uniform.

"Fine. So Alice Greenwood's your girlfriend, huh?" Andy spouted dimly.

"Andy I don't know where you get these things. She and I are just good friends. Kinda like you and the vending machines." Jimmy teased, immediately realizing his mistake.

"What did you say Oken!" Andy slurred through chubby cheeks, a little spit spewing from his mouth.

"My bad Andy. I didn't mean it." Jimmy answered, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Hey, Oken, rumor has it you and Alice are tongue wrestling on a regular basis." Andy snickered, trying to anger Jimmy. This was an exaggeration on Andy's part. Jimmy and Alice had become quite interested in each other over the past year. They had been known to share a kiss or two fairly regularly. But it was pretty normal at their age to do that. And it wasn't as if they where kissing as intensely as Andy had just described. They only kissed casually on the lips.

"Andy, you're an idiot. Why don't you go find somebody else that has money for the vending machines?"

"Can't, I'm having too much fun here."

"Well I'm not. So let me through and you can go have your fun with somebody else, okay?"

"Uh-uh. You're more fun than the other nerds. You ain't got sticks for arms."

"Well since we're talking about rumors, Andy. Rumor has it, you had to start sitting in the back of the classroom cause you kept getting stuck in your desk."

"That only happened once!" Andy bellowed angrily. In point of fact it had happened three times. Andy had become so enormous he no longer fit in an ordinary sized desk, so now he had to sit at a table in the back of his classrooms.

"Okay Andy, whatever you say." Jimmy laughed quietly, hoping he could get on with things.

"You not so smart Oken! I know things." Andy sputtered, looking stupid with more saliva dripping down his double chin.

"If you're so smart then why did I hear some of your friends say you might get held back a year?" Jimmy probed, with a matter-of-fact look on his face. Jimmy had been getting straight A's since first grade. And it wasn't too terribly difficult for him. He was naturally very gifted.

"Well… it's cause… they don't… I should be…" Andy sputtered, trying to come up with something, like a car that was out of gas.

"That's what I thought, see ya big A." Jimmy quipped as he strode past Andy.

Just as he began to move around him Andy swung a punch at Jimmy's jaw. The blow resonated inside Jimmy's head. He had no choice. Jimmy turned around and just as he did, he managed to duck under another ham-like fist. Jimmy slammed his knuckles into Andy's jaw. Andy and all of his girth was forced off of his feet and landed on a table of sign-up sheets. The table was flattened under him. Andy pulled himself up by a water fountain and shook himself off.

"You've gotten really strong since last time Oken. But it won't matter." Andy insisted with great arrogance.

"We'll see. I don't wanna knock you over again. You're so heavy and you know we're on a fault line. Wouldn't wanna cause an earthquake."

Andy looked at him, confused. Andy had failed most of his classes. There was no reason to believe he knew anything about what a fault line was. Andy landed another blow in the center of Jimmy's chest. Jimmy heaved and coughed for breath. But he kept moving because he knew Andy wouldn't wait for him to recover. Jimmy kicked his foot into the back of Andy's leg causing him to lose his balance and fall on his back. Jimmy didn't know what was happening, he was simply overcome with rage. He drew back his fist and with all his might slammed it into the side of Andy's head.

For a minute Andy just lay there dazed and unable to move. But Jimmy didn't leave. He knew if he did leave and someone found Andy like that, he would be in more trouble than he'd ever been in. For some reason he now felt obligated to help Andy. But soon enough Andy pulled himself up. He clearly didn't need Jimmy's help.

"Okay, had enough Andy?" Jimmy asked, not waiting for an answer. He turned around and headed for the door. He would just have to shower at home and get his regular clothes out of his gym locker the next day.

But Andy had other ideas; he wasn't smart enough to walk away like Jimmy was. Andy used his signature move that he had used twice in their past fights. He ran up behind Jimmy and grabbed him around the midsection, intending to throw him to the floor. But just as before, Jimmy attempted to break Andy's hold on him. Andy would not let go of him, and during the struggle the top piece of Jimmy's track uniform was forced upward, exposing his newly toned stomach, as opposed to the fleshy flab that had shown last time.

"Wow Oken, you've gotten really skinny. I feel sorry for you." Andy said in a muffled voice. His chin was pressing against Jimmy's shoulder. Seeing as Jimmy was taller it was a little difficult for Andy to attack from behind.

"That's muscle, you bonehead!" Jimmy sputtered. He broke Andy's hold and grabbed onto Andy's arms. Jimmy heaved Andy into the lockers behind him, which taxed even his new muscular strength. He ran up to him and punched him upside the head with as much force as he could muster, which was substantial compared with the last fight. Andy looked stunned for a moment. Then he slid down the front of the lockers and slumped onto the floor. He was out for the count.

"Oken, come here!" Principal Kunkle commanded him from behind. Jimmy did as he was told. He knew he was about to be kicked out of school. And he was not looking forward to it. He had not meant for this fight to happen. He had wanted to enter high school with a fresh record and a good reputation. But it had all just been thrown away by his inability to leave this fight and deal with it maturely. He felt so stupid, so little and so broken at this moment.

"Oken I saw what happened." Kunkle stated with no emotion. Apparently she had been watching them fight the entire time, taking some perverse pleasure in seeing two boys beat each other to a pulp.

"I want to talk to you. But first Corelli needs to be in the nurse's office. And seeing as you knocked him out cold, he will need to be carried there."

"What? How? You want me to carry him? He's like two-hundred twenty pounds!"

"You made the mess. You clean it up, Oken."

Grudgingly Jimmy walked over to where Andy was still lying, bent down, back facing Andy and lifted Andy's arms over his shoulders. And to his surprise when he attempted to stand up with Andy on his back, he was indeed able to lift him, although he was sure his back would have its revenge later.

He hobbled all the way down to the nurse's office with Andy on his back. When he got there, the nurse told him to set Andy on a bed. Jimmy obeyed without a word. Then Principal Kunkle told him to follow her. They walked down the hall and sat on a bench.

"Oken, while I don't approve of what just happened, I can't blame you. Corelli has been consistently picking fights since the last one you had with him. You are not in any trouble…as much as it pains me to say." Principal Kunkle said, the last part through gritted teeth.

"Thank you so much, Principal Kunkle." A huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. Not the weight of Andy Corelli, but the weight of the consequences he had been dreading.

"Don't interrupt me Oken!" Kunkle snapped.

"Sorry."

"I have to admit, I'm impressed at what I saw from you. I know you should have walked away from him. But you handled yourself very well. He didn't even stand a chance. You just put him down. He's unconscious and bleeding. And you'll probably just walk away with a bruise on your chest. Probably not even that. I wish I knew what it felt like…I mean wow!"

"But I should have walked away. I feel really stupid for letting this happen again."

"What did I just say about interrupting me Oken?" Kunkle sneered.

"Sorry."

"You're right you shouldn't have responded to him. You're a whole lot smarter than he is and you shouldn't have lowered yourself to his level. You have some anger issues, which I am pleased to see you have dealt with…for the most part."

"Yeah, I don't know what happened. I just snapped. I just had to hit him."

"Oken! For the last time, don't interrupt me." Kunkle snarled.

Jimmy fell silent as commanded.

"Now, I know I've always said I couldn't stand you and that you were so much like you father it made me sick. But the truth is I've always liked you Jimmy. You've always been one of my favorites." Kunkle began. This was the first time she had ever addressed him by his first name. "I've always admired you for how you were smart but tough at the same time. How you can be cool and confident and just glide through things like they're no big deal. I know on the inside it is all a big deal to you. But you're always able to stay calm and composed. You know, except on those rare occasions when you just let it out. But who wouldn't with all that you have going on. You dealt with it by trimming down and muscling up. Good job with that by the way. Makes you seem less like your father all the time. No offense to him. I know I've taken too many shots at him since I met you. But you seem like a much improved version of him. Again, no offense to him. You've always been great from an academic standpoint. And for the most part your behavior has been exemplary. I'm gonna miss you Oken. But I guess I still have your sister. She's different than you. But she's another one of my favorites. Don't tell her that or I will put this fight on your record! And I guess in a couple of years there's your brother. What can you tell me about him? You know I have to torture him the same as you."

"Well he looks a little like me, and a little like my Uncle Owen." Jimmy said. "Oh yeah, I remember Owen." Kunkle recollected. Jimmy gave her a 'don't interrupt me' look.

"He's pretty smart, I guess. He's just as confident as I am. He won't get into fights like me. He just doesn't operate like that. And neither do I… mostly. Oh, and you'll love this. He's more like my dad… but in a good way!" Jimmy grinned. They both laughed hysterically.

"You can… you can go home now Oken… get … get changed and you can go…" Kunkle said through laughter. He did just that. After having changed out of his track clothes he headed for home. But before getting home he decided to make a stop at the beach. Not to run. He had just done that for the past two hours during track practice. He went to the beach to relax and calm his nerves.

He lay down on the sand. He pulled off his shirt and let the cool breeze blow over his skin. It was so relaxing that he lost track of time. He had been lying there for almost an hour and a half.

"I thought I might find you here." Came a sweet and friendly voice that was pleasing to Jimmy's ears. He turned his head abruptly. He saw Alice standing there smiling which made his face turn a little red. He yanked his shirt over his head and pulled it down over his body.

"Okay fine. But at least tell me why you're out here." Alice asked, she wrapped her arms around his right arm and rested her head on his shoulder. They both stared out over the water at the setting sun.

"I got into another fight with Andy earlier. I swear it was the last one! I came out here cause I needed to be alone so I could calm down."

"Fine then, I'll leave." Alice said, un-wrapping her arms from his.

"No don't go, I'd rather you stay. You being here doesn't add to my stress or anything."

"Okay, if that's how you feel." She sat back down and leaned against him like before. They sat like that for a little while. Then they decided to walk home.

"So you think I should tell my parents? Kunkle said I'm not in any trouble." Jimmy asked Alice.

"It's up to you. I think you know the right thing to do."

"_Why does she always have to be right? Why does she have to know me so well? She's so wonderful." _Jimmy thought to himself. He smiled at the thoughts. Alice leaned up and kissed him lightly on his smiling lips, which only caused him to smile more. When they got to Alice's house they said 'goodbye'.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you." Alice responded as she went inside. Jimmy decided he knew what Alice meant; he did know what he should do. He decided he would tell his parents what had happened.

When Jimmy told them what had happened they only grounded him for the next week because they understood that what had happened was not entirely his fault. This time Jimmy had the good sense not to sneak out of the house while he was grounded, no matter how much he wanted to. He really did want to get out just to run down the beach and as well as seeing Alice. But he waited patiently. He did the responsible thing and used to time to work out and study even more for his end of the year tests.

The moment he was done being grounded Jimmy burst out the front door. He had to catch up on his running. His track team had its final meet in less than a week and he wanted to be ready. He ran long and hard for the next five days. And when he got to the stadium he felt he was ready. Indeed he was right. In the last seconds of his final race he pulled ahead of his opponent and finished in first. He had won his other two races as well. As he bent down and touched his knees, his heart pounding in his chest and all the veins in his arm muscles rippled, his family along with Alice came to congratulate him.

Michael jogged up to him. His legs had now fully healed and he had the full use of them.

"Way to go Jimmy!" Michael exclaimed. Jimmy grabbed his brother and gave him a one armed hug, and a high five.

"Proud of you, big bro!" Rose said, smiling at him.

"You never disappoint me big guy!" Oliver told his son. His mother came up and gave him a two armed hug. Then it was Alice's turn.

"You did great. I knew that last guy didn't really have you at the end." Alice leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Everyone else pretended not to notice. They knew how much it would embarrass Jimmy if they said anything. But alas Oliver fell in step with Jimmy as they walked off the track.

"Way to go Jimmy! Looks like you got yourself a great girlfriend." Jimmy's face turned bright red.

"She's not my girlfriend dad. Not yet." Jimmy whispered to his father from the side of his mouth. He was hoping Alice would at some point agree to be his girlfriend. But he wasn't sure how to go about asking her.

Over the next three months Jimmy worked hard. He studied for his end of the year finals until his head hurt. And that took a lot because he was very smart. He also decided not to neglect his passion for running because he wanted to be on his high school track team in the spring next school year. So he ran down the beach as much as he could. This was also to prevent that inner anger, which he had thought he'd destroyed, from ever getting the better of him again. He wasn't afraid of much of anything. But what he was afraid of was letting that small amount of fire inside him get out and control him. He was a person who was very much in control of his actions. So when he lost control and got into a fight with Andy Corelli he decided he needed to fortify that self control. He did it in the only manner that he knew how to. By getting physical exercise, which definitely relieved the stress he experienced. And as a very fortunate side effect it also strengthened his physically. He happened to enjoy working out very much. Over the same three months he gained ten pounds in pure muscle. He would be fourteen at the end of the summer, which was a little over three months away, so he wasn't afraid that his weight had gotten too high. He was only one hundred and thirty pounds, which was about average weight for a fourteen year old boy. So he wasn't quite fourteen yet, at least he wasn't flabby anymore, he thought.

The day of Jimmy's eight grade graduation came before he knew it. It seemed like just yesterday, he had been awkwardly experimenting with kissing Alice. He still didn't know how to ask her to be his girlfriend. He was usually very well spoken. But this one thing was proving to be very complicated. He had other things on his mind that may have been adding to the pressure. He had to make a speech at the graduation ceremony. He was the class valedictorian (ranked first for grades in his class) and he had to address the rest of the students in his grade as part of the ceremony. He already knew what he was going to say. He was just a little nervous. He wasn't particularly nervous because he was an excellent public speaker. But there was that funny feeling of anticipation in his stomach.

He changed out of his pajamas he had been walking around in them all morning. He was too jittery to change into regular clothes. So now, only an hour before he needed to be in the school auditorium he changed into his formal clothes. He buttoned up his long sleeved white shirt and pulled his pants over the end of the shirt, fastening the belt. And then he tied the tie. He was ready. He walked down the stairs were he saw his family waiting for him. There they had his purple cap and gown waiting for him. "Hurry up Jimmy, put your stuff on. We wanna get good seats!" Oliver complained.

"Don't rush him!" Lilly said, thumping Oliver on the shoulder. Jimmy slipped his arms into the arms of the gown, which were much bigger than sleeves, more like long flaps with arm holes. Then he zipped it up in the front and grabbed up the square mortarboard cap.

"Okay, let's go." Oliver told everyone.

They all got into the car and rode down to Sea View middle school. When they got there Jimmy joined the line of other students. He stood there in the midst of people patting him on the back for two things, winning the track title, and becoming valedictorian. He was looking around for Alice and after ten minutes he spotted her. She was standing about one hundred feet away wearing a white graduation gown just like all of the other girls. Jimmy's was purple just like all of the other boys' gowns. Jimmy forced his way through the crowd to her.

"So you ready for this?" He asked her. She grabbed his right hand with both of her hands and shook it with excitement.

"Of course I am!" She exclaimed, her voice was a little nervous.

In the next half an hour they stood there together and talked. They talked about how much independence they were going to have in high school. They talked about how much harder they would have to work. They would both be continuing with advanced placement classes. They talked about how much both of them had changed over the last couple of years.

"When I was twelve these pants would barely have fit me!" Jimmy said with a smile. Alice patted him on the gown in the place where his stomach was.

"Well I'm just glad we don't have to be embarrassed about liking each other anymore."

"Yeah, that is a relief. I was always afraid, at least for the first couple of months, that the guys would give me a hard time. Speaking of guys, where's Sam?" Jimmy asked, neglecting to ask the one question he had really wanted to ask.

"I see him over there. Let's go over there with him." Alice answered, craning her neck. They headed over to their best guy friend, Sam, who was looking around for them.

"Oh, there you guys are. I've been looking all over for you. So are you pumped or what? No more middle school! No more Kunkle! No more Andy Corelli!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh that's right, they held him back in the eighth grade. Now you don't have to worry about him anymore Jimmy!" Alice patted him on the shoulder.

"Who's worried?" Jimmy joked.

"Well I'll see you guys inside! They're about to call us in!" Sam said, excited. Alice came closer to him and hugged him. Then she turned and kissed Jimmy on the cheek quickly. They trailed in with all of the other students. Most of the kids filed into the seats on the auditorium floor in front of their families. But Jimmy and Alice had to sit on the stage behind Principal Kunkle, the band, and the school board members. It was because Jimmy was valedictorian and Alice was salutatorian (second in the class for grades). Sam was ranked sixth in their graduating class. Jimmy and Alice sat there, silent, for a solid hour while Principal Kunkle and each of the board members individually gave a speech. Near the end Jimmy leaned over to Alice.

"Alice?" he whispered.

"Yeah." She responded.

"I've been thinking."

"And?"

"Well we both really like each other…"

"True."

"Well… you wanna be my girlfriend?... And you know I'll be your boyfriend? You know that sort of thing?..." He asked her, still whispering.

"I thought we kind of already where… you know. But yeah, alright. I will definitely be your girlfriend."

"Oh, great. That's great. You don't know how much that means to…" He trailed off. All of a sudden they looked forward, out towards the crowd of people. They had all gone silent. All the people on the stage had finished speaking. And everyone was staring at them. No one knew what they were saying but they knew they had been talking because they all could see them on the big jumbo screen above the stage which showed a blown up camera view of them. It was focused on them because Jimmy was supposed to be giving his speech.

"I'll try this one more time. Our valedictorian will now address his graduating class. May I present to you James Oliver Oken!" Principal Kunkle said in a slightly steamed voice. Jimmy jumped up and approached the podium. He had been nervous, but not anymore. He had more confidence than he knew what to do with. He now had a girlfriend. And it wasn't just anybody either. It was Alice, the most special girl in his world, except for maybe his mother and sister. But nonetheless she was the most special girl to him. Jimmy got up to the podium and spoke with confidence.

"I am here today to address this year's graduating class of Sea View Middle School." He began. Some people, including students let out whoops.

"Yeah, man, Jimmy!" some of the guys shouted. And some people whistled. Jimmy grinned and let out a chuckle.

"Heh… yeah, thanks guys!" He said. "I know all of you are as glad as I am that this day is here… I couldn't have gotten to where I am right now without the help of my family. My parents: Lilly and Oliver Oken… My little sister Rose...My little brother Michael, who's been strong over the last year and supported me even though he's been recovering from a difficult injury. I'd also like to thank my two best friends Sam and Alice…" Some people in the crowd let out cheers and whistles. "And of course all of the rest of you were there for me and there for each other. So thank you all. Everything we've done was better because we have each other's backs. Without further delay I'd like to turn it over to the class salutatorian Alison Emily Greenwood!" Jimmy said with a big smile. He turned and passed Alice as she walked towards the podium. They both had the looks of joy they wanted to give each other, but they couldn't risk it. He walked past Principal Kunkle and accepted his diploma. He had really wanted to announce Alice as his girlfriend, and not just by her class rank. He wanted to shout it at the top of his lungs, he was so excited, but he showed maturity and restraint.

When she was done with her speech Alice turned and walked back, accepting her diploma from Principal Kunkle. She sat down next to Jimmy once again. Due to their long-armed robes they were able to hide the fact that they were sitting there holding each others' hands throughout the rest of the ceremony. They waited patiently while the rest of their classmates came up across the stage to receive their diplomas. The fourth person to come across the stage was Sam. He shot them a huge smile. They waved and smiled back at them. Then he comically took a bow towards the crowd, which was going against their etiquette instructions. Principal Kunkle gave him a dirty look. He just smiled unerringly on his way off of the stage with his diploma.

After the ceremony concluded they all filed out the front of the school, in order of where they had been seated. Jimmy and Alice met their parents and family outside of the school. They both shared hugs with all of their family members. And just as an afterthought they both turned the tassels on the top of their caps to face the other way, as was tradition at a graduation after they had graduated. Everyone told them how proud they were of Jimmy and Alice.

"I'm so proud of you! Come here boy!" Oliver said to Jimmy through tears, giving him a bear hug.

"We're all so proud you! We knew you… both of you could do it!" Lilly exclaimed. She hugged Jimmy, and then she moved over and gave Alice a hug too. Alice then moved to her older brother Simon, who beat her to the hug by meeting her halfway.

"Okay. People are starting to leave. I guess we can all see each other later. Maybe we can go out to dinner to celebrate." Mr. Greenwood said.

"Sounds like a good plan." Lilly agreed. Then they walked towards their cars. They were only parked a few rows apart. So they headed in the same direction. When the two families were out of ear shot of each other Rose turned to Jimmy and asked the obvious question.

"Jimmy what was that all about up on stage? You were just sitting there talking and everybody was just waiting for you to give your speech. What was that?"

"Alice and I are…" Jimmy began to answer. But he was cut off. Alice came up to him and kissed him full on the lips, right in front of both families.

"See ya later Jimmy." She said smiling. She walked off and rode away with her family. Jimmy got into the car with the rest of the Okens.

"Okay Jimmy. What was that all about? Why did she just kiss you? And we've been meaning to ask you. You two have been hanging out a lot lately. And smiling at each other more than normal. And I think I saw you holding hands once or twice. And now you hold everyone up cause you were in the middle of some conversation. And just now you two kissed right in front of everyone. What is going on Jimmy?" Lilly demanded of him. Rose and Michael smiled deviously at him.

"She's my girlfriend. That's what we were talking about. I was asking her to be my girlfriend. And she said 'Yes'. I thought Mrs. Kunkle would be talking a little longer." Jimmy replied, with a contented smile on his face.

"Ohh… I'm glad. She's such a nice girl. I'm proud of you. Good job." Lilly stammered, a little taken off guard.

"I agree with your mom. Way to go big guy!" Oliver proclaimed. And just then, they couldn't hold it back any longer, they both unleashed at the same time.

"Way to go Jimmy!" Rose and Michael said at the same time. Rose, who was sitting next to him, hugged Jimmy from the side. He smiled brightly.

"Thanks you guys!"

Later that evening, after dinner, they had changed back into casual clothes. As it got a little dark Alice and Jimmy headed down to the beach, alone.

"So how does it feel? We're boyfriend and girlfriend now." Alice asked.

"It feels great! I've wanted to ask you for months. I don't know why, but that just seemed like _the _moment to do it."

"Well I think it was the perfect moment. I would have said 'yes' months ago. But this was perfect!"

They stopped walking and kissed each other happily. Then they turned, hand in hand, and walked off into the sunset. Their minds were filled with feelings for each other, thoughts of what they would do as far as dating, and overall happiness and content. They could not ask for a better life than the one they had at this very moment. Or at least that's what they thought.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**_I hope you enjoyed this seventh chapter of my saga "A New Life". _

_***Again, it might help understanding where the main characters came from if you have read "Meant to Be parts 5-9 or 8-9" or something. Although they are pretty much their own characters, so it might not be that hard to read without knowing where they came from._

_****Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is __**13, going on 14**__. Rose is __**11**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**9**__._

_*****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	8. It Makes Us Stronger

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 8: It Makes Us Stronger–**

The first day of high school was a little nerve raking for Jimmy Oken. His adjustment would however not be particularly difficult. He was going into it with a lot of people he considered friends, two of which where his best friends, Sam and Alice. As a matter of fact Alice was now Jimmy's girlfriend. Having a girlfriend going into high school was not something most of the other guys could say for themselves. And certainly not a girlfriend as amazing as Alice, as far as Jimmy was concerned. He had turned fourteen several weeks ago and was feeling confident about everything on the whole.

Just as Jimmy had finished that thought, the very person he was thinking of walked up to him in front of Sea View high school.

"Hey Jimmy! Nervous?" Alice asked in a bubbly voice.

"A little. I guess it'll go away. It's just different. That's all. You know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean." She gave him a big hug. "Maybe that'll help you through your day." He knew that it definitely would. "Let's go in and check where our homerooms are." Alice suggested.

They went inside and on the wall in the front hall where lists of homerooms by grade level and last name.

"Okay the freshman homerooms are over here." Jimmy pointed to where he saw some of their friends standing. They went and looked for their names.

"Here's mine. Greenwood, Allison. Room 223." Alice said, "What's yours?"

"Umm, here it is. Oken, James. Room 223!" He said, excited. A couple of upperclassmen flashed him looks.

"Great we have the same homeroom. So we get at least one class together every day, and lunch." Alice said eagerly.

"Hey Sam, what's your homeroom?" Alice asked their other best friend when he got to them.

"Two-twenty-three, just like yours!" Sam exclaimed. Apparently he had already looked for their names as well.

They walked off towards the stairs and went up to their homeroom. About fifteen minutes later the teacher quieted them all down.

"All right my name is Mr. Connor. The first thing's first. I'll call role and get all your names. When I call your name I want you to first tell me what you like to be called, and then one thing about you." He called several names of people they knew and several they didn't know yet. Then the teacher arrived at a familiar name. "Brooks, Samuel?" Mr. Connor called out.

"Here. I like to be called Sam. One thing about me is that I have a fear of black licorice. I think I had a bad experience with it once. I can't really remember." Sam told the teacher, trying to grin. Some of the other guys laughed and a couple of the girls smirked. "What? It wasn't funny!" Sam insisted. Clearly he did remember and he just didn't want to share the traumatic experience with anyone. Of course Jimmy and Alice knew what had happened, they had both witnessed it. They now laughingly referred to it as the 'Brooks Licorice Incident of 2024'.

A couple more names where called before another one of their names came up. "Greenwood, Allison?" Mr. Connor intoned.

"Here. I usually go by Alice. So yeah. Something about me is that I've been able to do a handstand longer than I've been able to walk. Weird, huh?" Alice said with a completely straight face. Some of the other kids began to laugh under their breath.

"I think some of you don't understand the purpose of telling me something about yourself. I wasn't looking for something weird or bizarre. I was looking for something that would help me understand you better as a student. But, oh well. Moving on." Mr. Connor said, seeming a little frustrated.

About a dozen names later Jimmy's name came up, "Oken, James. Wait I think I was a grade ahead of your father when I went here. Is your dad's name Oliver by any chance?" Mr. Connor asked.

"Yeah it is. I'd like to be called Jim or James. And something about me is that my arms are double-jointed. So if you ever see my arms really far behind my back they're not broken, I'm just stretching." Jimmy said with a smile that he couldn't hide to save his life.

"What did I just finish telling Alice here? You must have heard me. You're sitting right next to her." Mr. Connor said, over some raucous laughter from some of the boys.

"Sorry Mr. Connor."

"Very well Jim. You're dad let his mouth get him into trouble. Especially with that friend of his, Miley. But you can be your own person, right?" Mr. Connor asked hopefully.

"Definitely, sir." Jimmy responded politely.

An hour and a half later they moved out into the hallways for their second class.

"See you guys at lunch." Sam said. He turned and walked down the stairs to his next class.

"Looks like we both have the same class for second period. Algebra II, ohh." Jimmy cringed. He knew it wouldn't be a big challenge for him. But Alice on the other hand was not as strong as Jimmy at Math. But in Jimmy's mind this was good for him. He would get to spend even more time with her by helping her with her math studies.

"Why did you tell Mister Connor to call you 'Jim'?" Alice asked curiously.

"That's my name. Why?" Jimmy said wrinkling his forehead pretending to be confused.

"Cause you're 'Jimmy'. That's what you've always been called. You don't have to change that to be cool. You're Jimmy Oken; you don't have to try to be cool. You just are."

"You're just saying that cause I'm your boyfriend. That's like my mom telling me I'm handsome."

"First of all she's right about that. You're the best looking guy here."

"Again…boyfriend." Jimmy said, raising his eyebrows.

"Okay. Who thinks Jimmy, here, doesn't have to try to be cool?" Alice yelled to people in the hallway. A bunch of people yelled back answers of approval, and some of their friends that where there agreed honestly.

"Ok, fine. You're right. But I don't know. I guess I want to sound more grown up. And 'Jimmy' sounds kinda childish for a high-schooler."

"Well Sam and I'll still call you Jimmy. Okay?"

"Okay. I can live with that." He replied. They entered their next class room to start the whole introduction thing over again.

Four hours and three classes later the bell rang and it was finally time for them to go home. They didn't take the bus or get a car ride with somebody. They just walked home because it was only a fifteen minute walk for them.

"That was pretty funny that whole thing we had going with Mr. Connor, we told him totally random stuff about ourselves. I'm glad we're such good friends that you where both able to catch on that I wanted you two to do it too. But really, hand stands Alice?" Sam threw her a look of disbelief.

"What? It's true. I don't know why it happened that way. But it's true." Alice giggled.

"And what about you Jimmy? I'm sorry, I mean 'Jim'. What about that whole 'My arms aren't broken, I'm double-jointed' thing?" Sam asked, grasping for straws.

"What? I'm double jointed. You knew that. You where the one that thought I'd broken both my arms when I was five. That's how we found out actually." Jimmy exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, you're right. What'd you think of my licorice thing?" Sam asked.

"That was funny. But if you wanted to make it something real, maybe next time make it something you can live with other people knowing." Alice suggested.

"Yeah. Well by the time Mr. Connor got to me, some of the other kids had caught on and they were doing it too. But it was still funny, right?" Jimmy asked hopefully. They all nodded.

Two days later when they got to school there where sign-up sheets posted in the hallways for the school's sports teams.

"I think I'm gonna try out for the basketball team." Sam told them. He was at least three inches taller than Jimmy and five inches taller than Alice. He was the perfect body type to play basketball.

"Well they don't have track till the spring so I think I might sign up for the wrestling team." Jimmy thought aloud. He had become fairly muscular as of the last couple of years and wanted to put some of it to the test.

"I might try out for softball." Alice chimed in.

"You should do it. The sheets right over there." Jimmy agreed.

"Okay. I will." Alice said, with a smile she put her name down on the sheet.

When Jimmy got home that afternoon he started into his homework. He was sitting on the couch in the living room when his brother Michael came up to him.

"Hey Michael. What's up little bro?" Jimmy addressed him.

"You know how you said when I was back to normal you would teach me more of your surfing moves?" He was referring to his legs having healed.

"Yeah, if you want we can do that later this month. I'm really busy with school right now. I have to study. And I have to stay in shape. I'm trying out for the wrestling team in a couple of weeks. But after that we can totally go and do some surfing."

"Ok! I can finally use the wetsuit and the surfboard you gave me last year." Michael exclaimed. He walked off with a smile on his face.

Two weeks later Jimmy went to the wrestling tryouts after school. He did the test moves that the coach told him to do. Some moves challenged him and others he succeeded at with ease.

"Nice one Oken! I like what I'm seeing. You're on the team." The coach said. Jimmy walked off of the mat and shook the coach's hand.

That same week they had started to notice signs hanging up all around the school. They read: 'Homecoming Dance next week. Formal dress required.'

"Alice, you wanna go with me?" Jimmy asked politely.

"Yeah, of course. Who else would I go with?" Alice retorted, giving Jimmy a hard time.

"Right. Okay. So we're going?" Jimmy made sure.

"Yeah. That's what I said." Alice replied.

"You guys are going together. But I have no idea who I'd go with." Sam complained.

"Why don't you ask Summer Hainly? She's cute, right?" Alice suggested.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to talk to her." Sam said.

"You just be yourself. It's not that hard. Just walk up to her and ask. Besides girls like guys that are straightforward." Alice informed him.

"Okay. You really think that'll work?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. She's right over there. Go ask her before somebody else does." Alice said, giving him a little nudge. But before Sam had made it more than five feet Summer walked up to him.

"Sam, you wanna go to homecoming with me?" She asked.

"Uhhh-huuh." Sam spluttered. Jimmy gave him a light smack on the shoulder.

"I mean yeah, I'd like that a lot." Sam said a little red in the face.

"Great. See you later." Summer said to Sam smiling as she walked past them.

"See Sam, wasn't that easy?" Jimmy asked.

Sam looked at Jimmy "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Jimmy. All I said was 'Uhhh.'"

When Jimmy arrived home his mind was swimming with thoughts. He had one week to figure out how he was supposed to act around Alice at the dance. He and Alice had been a couple for several months, but this would be their first real date. He had the proper outfit for the occasion, a tuxedo, dress pants, a white shirt, and belt. On the clothes front he was ready. But was he ready to have his first dance with Alice? He had slow danced at his parents wedding anniversary party. But that didn't count. Not really. It had been with his aunt. And that had been a while back. He figured somehow he would manage. Besides, how much better of a dancer could Alice possibly be?

To clear his head Jimmy decided to go for a run on the beach. As he did so he started to think. "It'll be alright. You'll be fine. You've never been nervous around her before." His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and totally unexpected urge to relieve himself. He was not far from the surf shack named 'The Shack: Formerly Known as Rico's'. So he jogged up to it and went into the bathroom. It still had a fee of a quarter to use it. The employees had never been able to get rid of that for some reason. Jimmy's father thought it must have been a parting gift from Rico to all the beach goers.

The next Saturday came so quickly that Jimmy thought time must have magically sped up somehow. He didn't know why but he was so nervous about his date with Alice he couldn't think straight. At some points it even made him a little light headed. He had never gotten this way from being nervous before. So he figured he must be especially nervous. Finally it was nearly time to leave to pick Alice up. He had been sitting in the living room, fully dressed for the dance, for two hours now.

He had about a half an hour before he needed to go over to Alice's house to get her. Alice's father was going to be driving them there and then picking them up. It was about half after three when Michael came bounding down the stairs. When he got to the bottom he knocked over his crutches which had been sitting there unused for months now. He bent over, picked them up and leaned them back up against the wall.

"I'm gonna go practice baseball with Robbie and Susan." Michael told Jimmy.

"Okay, have fun little bro."

Michael pulled his baseball mitt out of the closet near the door and ran out the door and off to the baseball field outside of Sea View elementary school.

Michael got to the field in short time, Robbie and Susan where already there to greet him.

"Where've you been? We've been waiting for you for ten minutes already!" Susan demanded.

"Sorry I had to remember where I put my mitt." Michael cringed. They set themselves up to practice. Michael had the bat. Robbie was pitching. And Susan was catching. Michael only managed to hit about half the balls Robbie pitched to him.

"Klutz!" Susan teased him.

After about half an hour of this they switched positions. Michael was the pitcher this time. He tossed his mitt off to the side. And then he drew back his arm and pitched a ball toward Robbie's mitt. Robbie was standing behind Susan to catch the balls if she couldn't hit them. The first pitch smacked into Robbie's mitt.

"Owe! Geez, you can definitely pitch better than me Michael. I could never pitch that hard!" Robbie called out.

"Thanks!" Michael shouted back.

He pitched another ball. But for some reason this time it didn't hit Robbie's mitt nearly as hard as it had the first time. He was having a hard time building up enough energy to pitch the ball with the same amount of force. But Susan hadn't been expecting a slower pitch, so when she swung the bat it was too early and she wasn't able to hit the ball.

"Neat trick Michael!" Susan shouted to him.

"Thanks?" Michael shouted back in a slightly weak voice. He wound back his arm for another pitch. But this time the ball didn't even make it half way to where Susan and Robbie were standing.

"What was that Michael? You hafta try harder than that. What are you doing? Hey are you okay?" Susan shouted. Michael didn't answer her. He was too weak at the moment. He passed out, and landed on his side in the dirt, which billowed smoke-like with the impact of Michael's body. Both Susan and Robbie ran towards him. Robbie pulled out his video cell phone and called his father.

About thirty minutes earlier Jimmy was walking up to Alice's front door. He rang the doorbell and Alice came to the door promptly. She looked absolutely breath taking in her dress. She had her hair up and everything. Jimmy decided there was the distinct possibility he might faint at the sight of her. He knew she was beautiful, but she was utterly amazing at this moment. He stood there speechless until Alice broke the silence.

"Jimmy you look incredibly handsome. You remind me of… what was that guy's name from that movie we just saw?" Alice asked, grasping for the name.

"Well I could say 'the name is Oken, James Oken'" Jimmy said, feeling nerdy. They had just gone to see the latest James Bond movie with his father and Jackson, and he had been dying to say that, in the back of his mind anyway. Alice's father came to the door.

"You both look amazing!" He said.

"Let me get a picture of you two together. You look adorable." Mrs. Greenwood bubbled. Jimmy and Alice stood together. They smiled while Alice's mother took pictures. Then Mr. Greenwood interrupted.

"We have to go or they'll be late." He said, pointing to his wristwatch. He had no idea how thankful they where to him for getting them out of more pictures. They both got in the car and rode off to the high school gym where the dance was being held.

For a while they just stood around and talked to each other and some of their other friends. But soon enough the chaperone teacher told them that the dancing part was about to begin. She turned on some slow sounding music, and everyone started dancing. But not ten minutes had passed when Jimmy had a sudden urge.

"Alice…I have to go to the…uhh." Jimmy stammered awkwardly.

"Make it quick, I was just starting to get comfortable, you know." Alice said with a slightly frustrated look on her face. He moved quickly over to the door, out into the hallway and went quickly to the nearest bathroom. He was relieved to see that Alice was as nervous as he was about dancing. He got back to her as quickly as he could.

"So let's keep going…" Jimmy suggested, hoping she would overlook what just happened. He placed his hand around her waist. And they started to slow dance again. They had been going steady for about a half an hour when Jimmy had to go again. When he got back Alice looked even more irritated. But they started dancing again. This time Alice put her hand on Jimmy's waist. What she felt made her look at him funny.

"What? What's the matter? I'm sorry I had to go I have no idea why it happened." Jimmy said a little red in the face.

"It's not that? Have you been losing more weight lately?"

"No. Why?"

"Well you feel thinner. I don't know maybe it's nothing."

"I have been watching what I eat. But that's cause of wrestling. But I didn't think I'd really lost any weight…maybe a pound or two but nothing big."

"Like I said, Jimmy, it's probably nothing."

They had been comfortably dancing for a while when they saw Sam and his date, Summer. They moved over closer to them.

"How's it going you two?" Alice asked them in a refreshingly energetic voice.

"Great, Summer is a really good dancer." Sam said, blushing a little bit.

"Don't sell yourself short Sam. You're good too!" Summer said, her face glowing as she looked at him.

"You guys should date." Jimmy said in a foggy voice.

"What?" Sam blurted. But before anyone could answer him they were startled by Mr. Connor, another teacher chaperone who yelled

"Linus, Milby, no kissing! Way too much contact!" They looked over and saw a sophomore couple, Roger Linus, and Anna Milby, pull apart abruptly.

In short time they all got back to dancing. Jimmy and Alice were having such a good time that neither of them noticed it when Jimmy's head came to rest tiredly on Alice's shoulder. However several seconds later Mr. Connor came up to them "Oken, Greenwood, too much contact!" he commanded. Jimmy lifted his head up.

"What was that all about anyway, Jimmy?" Alice asked, irritated.

"I don't know. I didn't mean to. It just kind of happened. I'm kind of lightheaded right now."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be fine." Jimmy insisted. But minutes later his video phone vibrated. There was a text message on the screen. It was from his mother. It said_ 'We're at the hospital. Michael's sick. We need you here now! Room 323.'_ He looked up.

"Is everything alright? You look upset?"

"My brother's sick. They took him to the hospital and they need me to come right now. I'm so sorry." He had a look of true remorse in his eyes.

"That's terrible. If you want I could come with you? You know for support."

"Of course. I don't see why not." Jimmy answered. Alice grabbed her coat from the hanger it was on at the gym door and pulled it on. As they made their way out to the street Alice grabbed Jimmy's shoulder and turned him around. She put her hand on the shoulder of his tuxedo, leaned up, and kissed him on the lips.

"What was that for?" Jimmy asked, confused.

"For being such a good boyfriend. The date wasn't as long as I thought. But just know I'm here for you. It's nice to see how great a big brother you are to Michael." Alice said, smiling. He smiled back at her and they joined hands as they approached one of the many cabs waiting to take people home.

"Where to?" asked the driver.

"Malibu general hospital please." Jimmy told the man. They held hands for the entire ride. Jimmy's hand shook a little bit. When they got out Jimmy paid the driver. Then they approached the front entrance.

"You must be so scared for your brother." Alice commented.

"Yeah. He was hoping never to have to come back here."

When they got into the main lobby Jimmy's father was waiting for him.

"Hi, Alice, Jimmy. You guys come with me. He's up on the third floor. Come on." Oliver rushed them. They walked over to an elevator. When they got in Jimmy placed his hand around Alice's back and held onto her opposite side.

"What's going on dad?"

"Well apparently Michael has diabetes. He was playing baseball when he passed out. The doctors say it was a small diabetic attack. He'll be alright but he needs to stay here over night." Oliver told them. Jimmy just looked at his father in disbelief.

"Poor Michael. He must be scared. He definitely needs his big brother to keep him company." Alice commented. No one seemed to notice.

"Anyway, Jimmy, it's genetic, he got it from me. So they want to test you too. They already tested Rose and she doesn't have it. So they're thinking neither will you. Let's keep our fingers crossed." Oliver said, a forced smile on his face. When they got to the room Michael was lying on a bed. He looked over at Jimmy and smiled a tired smile.

"Hey Jimmy." He said groggily.

"Hey little bro. It's gonna be okay." He leaned over and Michael gave him a weak hug.

Just after that the doctor came in.

"I'm doctor Kelso. I assume you're Michael's brother Jimmy?"

"Yeah, I am. Is he gonna be alright?"

"He'll be fine. But we need to take some blood so we can test you as well." Dr. Kelso told him. So Jimmy sat down on the bed next to Michael's and rolled up his sleeve exposing the slightly bulging mass of muscle that was his right bicep. A nurse drew blood from his elbow joint with a syringe.

"We should have the results back in about ten minutes." The nurse informed him.

They all sat there patiently and talked.

"So Michael I hear you're really good at pitching." Jimmy said, trying to cut the tension.

"Yeah, better than Robbie, even. It's really fun." Michael said, smiling slightly.

"So how did your first date go Jimmy?" Rose asked.

"Great. Except I kept having to go…" Jimmy trailed off, a little embarrassed. Minutes later the nurse came back in and handed a folder to doctor Kelso.

"Okay. These are the results but I want to ask you a few questions first. How much do you weigh?" Dr. Kelso asked.

"About one twenty three."

"It says here that at your fourteen year physical your weight was one hundred and thirty-four pounds. So you've lost eleven pounds in a month." Dr. Kelso told him.

"Have you had to relieve yourself more than usual?" Dr. Kelso asked.

"Just for the last couple of days."

"What? Days?" Lilly asked, shocked.

"Well I'm sorry to say it Jimmy but you have type one diabetes as well." Dr. Kelso told him.

"Oh Jimmy…" Lilly said, hugging her son.

"I'm okay, I'll be fine mom."

The nurse had him change into a hospital gown. He was going to have to stay overnight just like Michael. He came out of the bathroom in the gown and lied down in the bed next to Michael's. He used the remote so that he could sit in an upright position.

"I… uhh need to talk to dad about something." Jimmy said a little urgently.

"Okay. Go ahead." Lilly responded.

"I…need a little privacy."

"Oh…" Lilly said, seeming to understand. So all but he, Oliver and Michael left the room and walked down to a lounge at the other end of the hall.

A single tear crept down Jimmy's cheek.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Oliver asked.

"It's just…what if Alice doesn't want to be my girlfriend anymore?" Jimmy said, starting to cry a little.

"What are you talking about? Why would you think that?" Oliver asked, confused.

"Cause, maybe she'll think I'm too sick or too weak or something." Jimmy said through tears.

"She's not gonna think that. Your mom found out I had diabetes and she still dated me."

"Yeah, but she knew way before you started dating. You had time to adjust. I'm springing this on Alice after four months of dating her. What if she thinks I…" Jimmy trailed off; the rest of his sentence was incoherent.

"She won't leave you. She's been your best friend since…forever. She'll understand. How could she not Jimmy? Trust me she won't think any less of you. It'll be just fine. She's a smart girl, you know that. She'll definitely deal with this the right way." Oliver said, patting his son on the back. Jimmy didn't say anything he just nodded his head, smiling, and lied back in the bed. He reached up and ran his hands over his short black hair and then let them rest at his sides. Michael, trying to be cute, imitated his brother and ran his hands through his neck-length black hair, then let his arms rest at his sides.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone for a while so you can get some rest. We'll be here for another couple hours, then we'll be leaving, and we'll come back and get you tomorrow." Oliver told them. When he had left the room they turned to each other and started to talk.

"I hope you and Alice don't break up. She's so cool."

"I know. She is, isn't she? I don't think she'll break up with me. She's better than that. I know her enough to say that."

"Still it's kinda weird to see you and Alice dating. I mean after all time, her being your best friend and being at our house all the time. It's kinda weird seeing you guys kissing, and holding hands, and going on dates. But I like it. She's always really nice to me too. I'm sure she's not gonna break up with you."

"Let's hope not."

All of a sudden tears started streaming down Michael's face.

"What's wrong little bro?"

Michael didn't answer. He just turned on his side, facing Jimmy, bent his legs up to his stomach, and wrapped his arms around them. Then he cried even harder.

"Come on Mikey, you have to tell me what's wrong." Jimmy insisted.

"Why should I?" Michael sobbed.

"Why? Cause I'm you're big brother and you're my little brother. We tell each other things. That's just how it works. That's why."

"Yeah, but I…" Michael started.

"But nothing. I spilled everything to you and dad. And look at me. I'm not crying anymore. Now do you wanna just sit there and cry until you soak the pillow, or do you wanna tell me what's going on and I can help cheer you up?...You do realize if you don't tell me, I'm gonna say you were hugging that pillow and you wet yourself, and that's what the wet spot is."

"Fine! It's just… All these things keep happening to me." Michael said through more tears.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you talking about…?"

"First I fell off the monkey bars and everybody thought I was gonna hafta use a wheelchair forever. And now…" Michael said, trailing off, the tears making it too hard for him to talk.

"And now you have diabetes. I know it's hard to accept. But I have it too and I'm accepting it." Jimmy said. Michael unclenched his eyelids.

"But you're older than me. And you're bigger than me and stronger than me and smarter than me." Michael cried.

"You're my brother. You have just as much a chance of having those things as I do."

"But it looks so easy with you. And now I have this… I can't…" Michael started to sputter, but Jimmy cut him off abruptly.

"Michael Stanley Oken, I'm your big brother and I won't let you say you can't do anything. You're in big trouble the next time I hear you say that. And you wanna know what? None of that stuff is easy for me. All of it is really hard. I have to study all the time to be smart. I have to run and work out all the time to stay in shape. And you know what else? We are going to get through this as long as we do what the doctors tell us. And we're gonna go on like it's not even there. It's something we're going to work around. We're just as smart and strong as we would be without it. We're brothers and we're gonna get through this together. So stop crying, cause you know what? It doesn't make us weak. It makes us stronger. We're stronger cause we can deal with it and we won't even let it slow us down. Got that little bro?"

"Ok. You're right." Michael said wiping the tears from his face.

"Yeah, I'm right. Now come here." Jimmy told him. He got up out of his bed and stood between the two beds.

"Come on, get up." Jimmy repeated. Michael reluctantly pulled back the covers and climbed out of his bed. He stood facing his brother who was almost a foot taller than he was. Jimmy reached out his hands and pulled Michael in towards him. He wrapped his arms around Michael's back in a firm, warm hug. Michael did the same, wrapping his arms around his brother's back.

"It's gonna be alright. Everything's gonna be fine little bro. It's gonna be more than just fine." Jimmy whispered into Michael's ear.

"I love you Jimmy." Michael whispered.

"I love you too Michael." Jimmy whispered back to his brother. They stayed like this for several minutes, just standing there hugging each other for emotional comfort.

They did not realize that they were being watched. Alice was standing outside with a broad smile across her face. The display of brotherly love she was witnessing warmed her heart. And in truth the thought of leaving Jimmy had never even crossed her mind. What she saw at this moment was further affirmation to her that she had made the absolute right choice in agreeing to make her best friend her boyfriend. For all she knew, at this moment, she might even love Jimmy. She certainly knew she loved him as a friend. But then again she loved Sam as a friend. But it was nowhere near the same as the feelings she had for Jimmy. She was reasonably sure that in her heart Jimmy was more than a friend. But for now she was going to let the feelings she thought she had remain only in her mind. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell a boy she loved him. Not even Jimmy. But she was confident that one day she would. But for now she was only fourteen and she believed she needed to let the feelings grow on her.

Meanwhile Michael and Jimmy moved apart. Jimmy rubbed Michael's long hair and then turned and sat down on his bed, getting ready to lie back down. But Michael came up behind him and rubbed Jimmy's short standing up hair. They both laughed gently and then lay down in their own beds. It was nearly ten at night. Alice came in to say 'goodnight' before she left.

"Hey you guys. We're all getting ready to leave. But they let me come in and say goodnight first."

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Jimmy asked hopefully.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Jimmy Oken." Alice responded pleasantly. She leaned in and gave him a warm kiss right on the lips. He was so happy that she hadn't reacted badly to the news of his diabetes. He was so happy that he couldn't seem to help laughing. She turned and headed for the sliding glass door.

"See you too Mikey." She said giggling.

When she was out of sight Michael started giggling, he had a cheeky little smile on his face.

"What's so funny?" Jimmy demanded.

"Nothing. She doesn't care about your diabetes. She still likes you the same…" Michael said, still giggling.

He was happy for his big brother and at the moment this was his way of showing it, and the truth was he couldn't help but giggle, that's what happened some times when he was really happy. It was also that his hug with Jimmy and seeing that his brother wasn't having his heart broken was quite enough to rid him of all the despair that had clouded his heart. All this was what made him seem to forget his troubles and just laugh. Jimmy started to laugh too. He got out of bed and went over to Michael.

"You asked for it little bro." Jimmy said with a big grin.

"What? Oh, noo… wait." Michael protested. Jimmy started to give his brother noogies (rubbing his knuckles against his head).

"Ahhh. Hey." Michael protested, still laughing. Then Jimmy starting tickling Michael in the stomach (above the gown). Michael giggled so hard he had to take a deep breath to keep it up.

"Okay you two, enough funny business." Lilly said as she walked in.

"Ok, we'll play nice." Jimmy said, he walked over and lay back down on his bed. Moments later he and Michael burst back into laughter. Lilly let it continue for a few seconds longer.

"All right you two settle down. We'll see you in the morning and then you can come home." Lilly told them.

"See you tomorrow big bro. See you Mikey." Rose said, giving them both hugs.

"We'll be here early tomorrow. So both of you get some sleep." Oliver said. As he walked out, he turned and said "See ya big guy, see ya Mike Stanley."

"I feel weird. Like I'm tired but I'm not tired." Michael said, now that they were alone.

"I know what you mean. I was like that at the dance with Alice. It was kind of embarrassing. Now that you mention it I still feel like that. I've just been caught up in thinking about Alice and about you. I think it means our blood sugar is low." Jimmy supposed.

"What do we do?" The doctors hadn't told them what to do to manage their blood sugar. They had told their parents so they could tell them. They figured it would be better coming from parents.

"I read about it for school one time. We need something with sugar in it."

Just then, as if by magic, a nurse came in with a tray. The tray had two mugs on it with warm, steaming liquid in them.

"You boys need to keep your blood sugar up. So I brought you some hot chocolate." The nurse said with a smile.

"You both have blue eyes so I couldn't decide what cups to get you. So you get blue." She said handing the blue mug to Michael.

"That's my favorite color!" Michael exclaimed happily.

"And you get yellow." She said smiling, handing the yellow mug to Jimmy.

"Thanks." Jimmy said. She left them alone. Michael held the cup by the handle with one hand and cradled the other side with his other hand as if it was something precious. He tipped the glass up to his mouth and sipped gingerly.

Within the next hour Michael had fallen asleep. Jimmy lay there for at least another half an hour just staring at his brother, admiring him for being so brave. He wasn't sure that he himself would be willing to be as brave if it weren't for his little brother, and all the other people they had to support them. But at the moment Michael happened to be the person that filled that role the most. They were brothers and they where there for each other. He was sure if Rose was the one in the other bed and not Michael he would feel the same way. But it _was_ Michael. Even though he had to deal with the same thing, he still felt bad for Michael for some reason. To Jimmy, Michael wasn't like other peoples' younger brothers, he was special. And this night had proven that even further.

The next morning came fairly quickly. Jimmy woke to see his family sitting across the room from his bed.

"Good, you're awake. We brought both of you fresh changes of clothes. That is unless you want to go home in your tux...or that hospital gown." Lilly said. Jimmy chuckled lightly. Moments later Michael drifted awake.

"Hey. When did everybody get here?" He said hazily.

"Ready to go, Michael?" Oliver asked.

"Yup." Michael said with a smile on his face. He and Jimmy took turns changing in the bathroom. And then they walked down the hall and went down to the lobby with their family. They checked out and went home.

The rest of that Sunday was spent sitting around in the living room talking. Mostly they talked about what they needed to do to balance their diet and stay alert about their blood sugar levels. But as the day went on Jimmy and Michael talked just amongst themselves. They talked about what they would do now that they had a big thing I common. Not that they weren't already close. But this change in their lives had brought them much closer as brothers. It was like they had both gained a new best friend.

"So you still wanna teach me how to surf better and do all those moves, right?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, of course. We have tomorrow off from school. We can do it then."

Alice paid a visit later that afternoon. She stayed with Michael and Jimmy until dinner time. Jimmy was tired but he went out front with her and stood out of the view from any windows.

"You're really taking this well Jimmy."

"It's not easy. But I feel like I have to be strong for my brother. Cause if I'm not, then what kind of example am I setting for him."

"You're right. But do you always have to be so strong all the time? Don't you ever just let things loose?"

"Sure I do. I've gotten into all those fights at school. That was me letting loose."

"That's not quite what I meant. I meant, don't you ever need somebody else to lean on when you're not strong?"

"Of course. But sometimes what helps me to be strong is knowing that other people need me. Like my brother. That's the kind of support I need… sometimes. And there's the fact that you didn't break up with me when you found out." Jimmy said, saying the last part quietly.

"Didn't break up with you? Why would I break up with you? You should know better than that. I couldn't break up with you over something like that. I'm not that kind of person."

"I know. I knew that. Maybe it was my blood sugar messing with my head… I was just really scared right then…"

Alice cut him off with a meaningful kiss. She had a habit of doing that. Not that Jimmy would complain about it. But it caught him off guard every time she did it.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm starting to feel a little drowsy. I think my blood sugar might be dipping or something. I think I need to go in and get dinner. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm gonna take my brother surfing. But after that…"

"Definitely. You guys have fun." Alice hugged him and then headed for home. Jimmy went in and had dinner with his family. It definitely helped him feel better. He was anxious to find out how to balance his blood sugar so that he wouldn't keep having flashes of light-headedness. When he was finished he spent some more time with his brother. Then they went up to go to bed.

"Jimmy, can I stay with you tonight?" Michael asked.

"You haven't done that since you where little."

"Please?" Michael pleaded.

"Ok, just for tonight." He turned around and grabbed an extra blanket and some pillows from the hall closet. When they got to his room Jimmy laid them out on the floor and set himself up on them.

"Okay, Mikey, get into bed and go to sleep. You wanna have lots of energy for surfing tomorrow." Jimmy told him.

"You know I'm turning ten in a couple weeks?" Michael reminded him quietly.

"I know, maybe you'll get a surprise party. But not if you don't go to sleep." Jimmy warned. Michael fell silent without any more argument. He tucked himself in and sat there until he drifted off to sleep.

"'Night little bro." Jimmy whispered. And soon he too fell asleep.

The next day before noon Michael and Jimmy headed for the beach. They were both dressed in their wetsuits, their surfboards in hand. As they walked down the beach Jimmy put his hand on Michael's shoulder, Michael smiled up at him. They kept walking until they found the perfect place to start from. Jimmy helped Michael with a move until he got the hang of it, which didn't take that long. Michael was a quick learner. Jimmy looked over at his brother.

"Okay, Michael, you'll like this next one."

_**To learn more about diabetes check out this site (and others) online:**_

_**-The American Diabetes Association **_

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the eighth chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 3-4 years before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is __**14**__. Rose is __**11, about to be 12**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**9, almost 10**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	9. Beneath the Surface

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 9: Beneath the Surface–**

As she walked into the living room Rose Oken saw her two brothers coming in through the front door. Her older brother Jimmy was attached at the wrist to his girlfriend Alice. They always laughed and kissed and held hands, sometimes even in front of her. Lately she thought they were kissing a little too much. It made her a little uncomfortable. All these things had been a little too much for Rose to understand even though she was twelve and already interested in boys. But she still didn't think they were _that_ big of a deal. She supposed that someday soon maybe she would feel otherwise. And unbeknownst to her that day was closer than she thought.

She entered her seventh grade class with her best friend Alex. He sat down next to her and they started talking.

"Hey Rose have you gotten somebody to be your partner for the science fair project?"

"No not yet, but I think I know who I'm gonna ask."

There was a boy across the classroom she was staring at. She thought he had to be the cutest boy she'd ever seen. At that moment she realized she was definitely into boys. This particular boys' name was Benjamin Linus. But everyone just called him Ben. She wasn't one to procrastinate so she got up and walked over to Ben.

"Hey Ben, you have a partner for Science Fair?"

"Ohh, I'm sorry Rose, I do. If you'd asked me yesterday I'd definitely have said 'yes'. I'm sorry." Ben said, with an unconvincing look of regret.

This didn't discourage her. She still had a crush on him. She moved back to her desk.

"So how'd it go with Ben? Does he want to work with you on it?" Alex asked.

"No, he's already picked a partner." Rose told him. Inside Alex was jumping for joy. Outwardly he just acted casually.

"I'll be your partner Rose." Alex suggested.

"Ok, that works. It's just you're my partner every year. I thought I'd do something different. You know? But we can do the project."

Alex saw the way Rose looked at Ben. He knew what was going on. And he wasn't going to kid himself at all. He was jealous because he had recently discovered that he liked girls. And with this discovery he had also recognized that he liked one girl in particular. And that was of course his best friend Rose. He liked her a lot. For that reason it made him more than a little jealous that Rose seemed to have a thing for another guy. But he also supposed that because she was his best friend and she didn't seem to feel the same way about him, that he shouldn't say anything to her. This was for fear of ruining his friendship with her. So he stayed silent for the moment.

Rose and Alex didn't have the same class next period. She had pre-Algebra and he had seventh grade math, which was a level below her class. Throughout his class Alex couldn't get it out of his mind. _"Why does she like that guy? Why Ben Linus? What's he got that I don't?" _He thought. _"Maybe she likes blond guys with green eyes?" _Alex had brown hair and hazel-colored eyes. It just didn't make any sense to him. He was her best friend. Why didn't she like him like that? He thought maybe it was all just in his head. Maybe she didn't really have a crush on Ben. But what was more; he didn't know why he cared so much. She was his friend; there was nothing between them besides their friendship. But for some reason no matter how much he reassured himself, he still couldn't rid himself of the troubling feeling. It was a feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was a feeling of sadness, of being let down somehow. He supposed it was just him letting himself down. After all he hadn't told her that he had a crush on her, so there was no one else to blame but himself. That was the main reason why it was such a major blow to him to see Rose going for another guy. One thing was for sure. He couldn't tell her how he felt. If he was right it would mean the end of their friendship. So he made up his mind that he wouldn't say anything to Rose, no matter how painful it was to hold it all in. The problem was he had no idea how difficult it was going to be, knowing that he had feelings for her, feelings he could not express, and seeing that she liked someone else.

Alice was in her room thinking about Jimmy. She was thinking about how much she loved being with him all the time. She loved his deep blue eyes, and his short dark hair. She felt safe with him, somewhat, just feeling his arms around her waist. She loved everything about him from head to toe. She also thought about how close they had been getting lately. She was lost in thought when her older brother Simon came in. She was lying on her back looking at him upside down.

"Hey Aly, how's it going?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Ok, I guess. Can I talk to you about something Simon?"

"Of course, anything."

"Well it's about Jimmy. What do you think of him?" Alice asked, crinkling her forehead a little bit.

"He's a good kid. I think he's the right guy for my little sister. Unless there's something you want to tell me. Is there?"

"Well, I really like him a lot. I can't see myself with anybody else, not right now. But he and I've been kissing a lot lately…and…"

"When you say 'a lot' what do you mean?"

"I mean, like, every chance we get, we just start kissing. I don't know. It feels like I'm doing it cause I'm really into him. But…"

"Is he starting it, cause I know how guys can be. When I started dating my first girlfriend, I kissed her a lot! I think that's just the way it is with younger couples in high school. They just kiss a lot."

"Well I start it a lot of the time, but he does some times. But I think… there's gotta be more to it than just kissing. I don't want it to be all about that."

"Then you should tell him that. He needs to know. If you don't tell him, he's not gonna know, and he's just gonna keep going like this. He's a fourteen year old guy. Trust me he's not gonna come to the realization that you two are doing too much kissing and not enough of anything else. He just won't. You gotta talk to him about it. He's smart, trust me, he'll understand."

"Thanks Simon." Alice smiled up at him.

"No problem." He said. He turned and left her room.

The next day Jimmy and Alice where walking down an empty field of flowers that was a couple of a minutes away from the beach. They stopped and looked at each other. They smiled. They liked everything about each other at this very moment. They didn't start kissing at first, but they soon would. "So Jimmy, you think we should try to help Sam out with Summer?"

"What are we supposed to help him with?" Jimmy asked, looking confused.

"They both like each other a lot. You saw them at the dance."

"Yeah, what's your point?" Jimmy asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

"They might actually be a good couple, you know?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think you're right." Jimmy said. The reason why it had taken him so long to catch onto what she was saying was that he was so caught up in how beautiful she looked, her eyes glistening in the sunlight, and her hair blowing freely in the wind. He also couldn't help noticing how attractive she looked. She was wearing a top that really caught his eyes. It made her curves very obvious and her midriff was showing slightly. He was very taken by the whole picture. He really wanted to just kiss her. The truth was they had been kissing a lot lately, pretty much every chance they got. This would be their fifth time today, and it wasn't even two o'clock in the afternoon.

"You think we should say something to Sam?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I guess. They would make a good couple." Jimmy said. Alice caught sight of his eyes; she was always quite taken by his eyes. She grabbed onto the bulging muscle of his right arm and put her other hand on his stomach. They kissed each other happily. It was long and sweet both in feeling and in taste. Suddenly Alice was rocked by a surge of attraction; she pulled away from him slightly. She looked up at him and said in an excited voice

"Take off your shirt." Jimmy stood up straight and reached his hands down to the brim of his shirt, ready to pull it off and continue to kiss Alice. But he paused, without lifting his shirt at all.

"What? Are you serious? We're not… Huh?" Jimmy said, very confused and just as embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Really. I wasn't thinking I guess. Of course, I shouldn't have said that. I'm not that kind of girl anyway."

"And I'm not that kind of guy either. I wouldn't act like that with you. It's just not right, you know?"

"Yeah. Heh. I'm sorry. That was embarrassing."

"Yeah. How 'bout we just relax for a little while? And we both agree to keep our shirts on." Jimmy said, blushing a little.

"Yeah. Agreed." Alice said. They walked slowly through the field with their hands connected at their sides, staring at their feet instead of each other. This momentary lapse in her judgment had further confirmed Alice's suspicion that she was going too fast with Jimmy.

They didn't kiss again until later that night. And Alice still hadn't followed her brother's advice. The next day was more of the same. They spent their entire Sunday afternoon sitting on the beach, smiling, and laughing and kissing. That evening they kissed each other goodbye at her front door. As she walked in she promised herself that the next chance she got, she was going to tell Jimmy how she felt.

On Monday Rose and Alex walked to school together. They had all but one class together today. They had history for their first period class where they both got an 'A' on a pop quiz. They met for lunch after their second class, which was math period and they were in different classes for math.

"So, you ready for Mr. Andrews' class?" Rose asked Alex.

"Yeah, he's always more interesting than most of our other teachers." Alex commented. About a half an hour later the bell rang and they walked to English class together. During the class their teacher, Mr. Andrews, went over his favorite poems. At the end he had an announcement to make.

"There is a play after school on Friday, it's a classic called 'The Nutcracker'. I want you all to go see it. If you come back with a program from the play, I'll give you extra credit on your next test." Mr. Andrew's told them.

"So do you wanna go?" Alex asked Rose. He was thinking that it would be fun and a chance to see what it would be like to go out on a date with Rose, without it actually being a date. That way if he ever worked up the nerve to ask her on a date, they would both be used to it already.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. Or if it's not, at least we'll get extra credit, right?"

"Yeah. So I'll meet you outside the auditorium Friday night?"

"Sure. We can sit together." Rose replied.

Jimmy and Alice where walking home from school on Wednesday when they stopped for a minute. Things happened just the way they had been happening fairly regularly lately. They looked into each other's eyes and without any words began to kiss in a casual manner. Alice was the one who started it, but she didn't let it last for very long. She pulled away after several seconds.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"I need to talk you." Alice stated, looking him sternly in the eyes.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well I think maybe we're going a little too fast."

"Too fast?" he said squinting his eyes in a confused look.

"I mean is this really all there is to us? Making out randomly?"

"I hope not. I do like kissing you. But I think you're right. We're in trouble if that's all we've got."

"I like kissing you too… But I've just been thinking about it a lot lately and… when we were kissing the other day and I said…that thing… it really got me thinking. If I was that into it that I would just say something like that… maybe we need to step back and take it a little slower. You know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean. To tell the truth I was gonna say something to you. It might have taken me a little longer, but trust me I was going to…and by the way I wasn't gonna take off my shirt."

"I know you weren't. That's what makes you such a good boyfriend. You're pretty mature. You think about things like that with more… well in a more grown up way than most boys do…like…Sam"

"I like to think I'm pretty mature." Jimmy said, smiling. Alice kissed him on the cheek.

"So it's agreed. Less kissing and more… us?" Alice asked.

"Exactly." Jimmy agreed. They walked down the sidewalk hand in hand and just talked until they reached Alice's house.

"So I'll see you tomorrow." Alice said.

"Not if I see you first." Jimmy said cutely. Then something dawned on him. "Wait! You think about Sam without a shirt on?"

"Bye Jimmy!"

On Thursday Michael got home from school feeling drowsy. Jimmy saw him and gave him a dirty look.

"What did I tell you little bro? You've gotta check your blood sugar. Where's your meter?" Jimmy asked.

"I think I left it in my room." Michael said groggily. They had both recently been diagnosed with type one diabetes. Jimmy had learned how to manage his diet and take regular readings of his blood sugar levels, and if he needed to he could get his insulin from the nurse when he was at school. However Michael had not been able to make the adjustment as quickly. He still forgot to bring his testing meter with him and sometimes ate some of the wrong things. Then he would get confused about what to do when he started feeling badly.

"Ok Mikey, sit down. I'll get you straightened out. But you've gotta be able to do this on your own. You can't keep forgetting your meter. And you have to look at what the doctor gave us about what we can eat and how much. You obviously don't remember." Jimmy said. Michael slumped down on the couch.

Jimmy ran upstairs, passed Rose in the hallway, and went into Michael's room. He found Michael's meter sitting on his nightstand next to the alarm clock. He snatched it up and ran back down stairs.

"Here, take your reading." Jimmy said placing the device in the palm of Michael's hand. It was about the size of a double A battery. Michael pressed the end of it to his finger and it made a beeping sound instantly.

"Okay lemme see." Jimmy said. He took the meter from Michael's outstretched hand. He looked at the number it read on the display.

"You dipped pretty low this time. Michael you need to be more careful. You're gonna have really bad problems if this keeps happening. Maybe mom and dad need to take you back to the doctor so he can explain it some more." Jimmy suggested. He knew this would scare Michael into being more cautious about dealing with his diabetes. Jimmy went into the kitchen and got a few things and then came back and sat down next to Michael.

"Here drink this; you'll feel a little better." Jimmy said handing him a cup. Michael sipped liberally from the cup of orange juice. As he did so he began to look a little livelier.

"Take your reading one more time, ok?" Jimmy said. Michael did what he was told. When Jimmy saw the number on the read-out he cringed a little bit.

"Okay, no problem. Lift up you shirt a little bit Mikey." Jimmy told him. He picked up the other thing he had retrieved from the kitchen. It was a needleless insulin injecting pen. He set it to the proper dosage for Michael's reading. He still had to give Michael insulin because Michael hadn't learned his dosages. Jimmy on the other hand had memorized both his and his brother's dosages. Michael obediently lifted his shirt, exposing his thin, and pail stomach.

"You really need to learn how to do this yourself." Jimmy said. He pinched a piece of Michael's skin at the bottom of his stomach. He pressed the tip of the pen into the skin, and then he pulled it away.

"Okay, now just relax. Tell me when you start feeling better." Jimmy said. Michael grabbed him by the wrist.

"Thanks Jimmy. I'm gonna try harder. Okay?" Michael said with a small smile.

"Okay. I'm glad." Jimmy said. He rubbed his hand over Michael's head and messed up his hair. Michael laughed as Jimmy walked over to the other couch and started on his homework. He knew Michael would be okay. He would eventually get the hang of things. It was just going to take him a little bit longer because he was younger and less mature.

On Friday evening Rose came down the stairs dressed in a fairly casual outfit. She went into the kitchen where her father was talking to her brothers.

"Michael you don't have to go back to the doctor. But we are gonna have to help you learn how to manage everything. You have diabetes, and it's affecting you now. So you're gonna have to realize that you can't just do everything like it's not there." Oliver lectured Michael.

"But Jimmy said we were gonna pretend like it isn't even there." Michael protested.

"And how's that workin' out for you?" Oliver asked sarcastically, giving Jimmy a dirty look.

"That's not what I said. I told you we were gonna learn how to deal with it so it would just be another part of our normal routine and it would _feel_ like it wasn't even there. I didn't say pretend like it's not there. You almost didn't make it home yesterday. Do you really think that means you should pretend it's not there?" Jimmy asked.

"No." Michael murmured quietly, looking down at his feet.

"Maybe I should have explained what I meant a little better." Jimmy reproached himself.

"Maybe you should have." Oliver retorted sternly.

"Dad, I'm gonna to meet Alex at school for that play we have to see." Rose interjected.

"Okay, don't be too late getting home." Oliver said.

"Okay, bye." She walked out the front door and headed for school. She got there in about fifteen minutes. When she reached the door outside the auditorium entrance Alex was standing there waiting for her.

"Ready to go in?"

"Yeah, let's go." Rose replied. They walked into the auditorium and looked for seats. Rose looked around for a few moments as if she was trying to spot someone. Only seconds later she turned and said "Okay let's sit here." They sat down next to each other in seats that were a row in front of some of Rose's girl friends.

"Hey Rose, hey Alex." A girl named Lynn said.

"Hey." Rose said back.

"Hey, Ben's over there. He looks really cute tonight." Another girl said. Rose smiled in agreement. Alex tried not to listen. Girls talking about boys made him feel awkward.

They sat through the first half of the play in relative silence. They would make the occasional comment about something they saw on stage. But for the most part they said nothing. They were supposed to stay quiet anyway, and the play was boring for the most part. Every once in a while Alex noticed Rose gazing off into the sea of students at something he couldn't see at first. But when the lighting was just right he was able to make out the face of the person she was eyeing. It was Ben Linus. Alex decided he would just ignore it. After about an hour the stage hands called an intermission. This was a chance for everyone to get up and stretch their legs and use the restrooms if they needed to. Rose stood up and looked down at Alex.

"I'll be back. I need to use the ladies room."

"Okay." Alex responded. When she was gone he sat there accompanied by his own regretting thoughts. _"I like her. Why don't I just tell her before it's too late? But what if she doesn't like me back? Telling her would ruin everything then."_

He hadn't been paying any attention to what Roses' other friends where saying until suddenly he heard her name mentioned.

"Wow Rose really likes Ben." One of them said. This bothered Alex, but only just a little bit. He was able to shrug it off as idol gossip.

"She should ask him out." Another girl said. This bothered Alex a little more. But he knew Rose wasn't allowed to start dating boys until the summer before she turned fourteen. This would have been true if it hadn't been for the fact that her older brother had broken the rule himself, so her parents were willing to bend the rule for her too.

"She can't keep her eyes off him. But who could blame her, right?" Another girl said. They all giggled in agreement.

The fourth girl said something that got Alex's full attention. "I heard she kissed him."

Alex could no longer handle listening. It was making his skin crawl listening to what they said. And that last comment was enough to make him feel sick all over. He couldn't sit there any longer. He just couldn't. He stood up and moved toward the doors in the back of the auditorium with great haste. As he made his way to the exit he took no notice of the fact that his face had become bright red, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He realized that he didn't like Rose at all. The truth was he loved her. It was tearing him apart to realize he couldn't tell her no matter how much it hurt him. She was interested in another boy and there was nothing he could do about it. If he said anything, he would simply be the boy that got in the way. He and his friendship would be cast aside so quickly it would seem like it never existed. He made it outside of the school building, once there he seemed to lose the will to move any further. All the emotions he had been holding in the last hour began to cripple him. He slumped down against a light pole. He sat there on the cold cement walkway and cried into his palms. His face was red, his eyes where bloodshot, his face soaked with tears, and his heart was broken into a million pieces. He couldn't imagine how things could be any worse. He supposed the only thing that could make his night worse would be to see Rose and Ben come out those doors together.

But the play would not be over for at least another full hour. Alex knew he couldn't let anyone see him like this, especially not Rose. For this reason he knew he most certainly needed to be long gone by the time the play ended and people began to leave. But much to his dismay someone did come outside. It wasn't Rose. But that was only a small comfort to him. It was a girl, surely if she saw him she would laugh at him for how pathetic he looked. Much to his amazement she didn't even crack a smile when she spotted him.

"Alex Rhodes? Is that you? Are you okay?" The girl said. She walked closer to him. He wished she wouldn't. He wanted her to just go away, let him drown in his tears and be consumed with misery and heartbreak.

But that kind of luck would not visit him this night. She had other plans. "Are you okay?" She repeated.

As she got closer to him he recognized her face through the blur of his own tears. Her name was Kristen Bauer. She was a very pretty girl, with a very friendly and outgoing personality. She had always been very nice to Alex even though she wasn't his friend. When they had spoken on occasion Kristen had always been especially pleasant to him. If he had been more in tune with other people's behavior he might have thought she had a thing for him.

"What?" He sputtered out through the tears he was now trying to wipe away. His face became an even darker shade of red from embarrassment.

"Are you okay? You're crying. What's wrong?" Kristen asked in a very concerned voice.

"Nothing's wrong." Alex mumbled in a biting cold voice.

"It sure doesn't look that way to me."

He said nothing, he was mortified. Kristen couldn't possibly understand what he was going through and the one thing he was absolutely sure of was that he was not going to tell her anything.

"Alex, what happened? Why are you crying?"

"You don't know me. Leave me alone." He blubbered through tears.

"It's too late. I'm involved. I have to know what's going on or I'll never forgive myself." Kristen said matter-of-factly.

"I can live with that." Alex responded callously.

"Well I'm not gonna leave till you tell me. And I can wait longer than you can. I know you'll want to be anywhere but here when everybody comes out and sees you like this." Kristen said. Alex knew she had a point, but he was willing to take the risk. He didn't want to give her an answer under any circumstances. So he sat there in silence with tears once more rolling freely down his cheeks, retching in painful misery.

"If you won't tell me, I'll have to start guessing. And I'm warning you I'm pretty good." Kristen threatened. The truth was she had seen him with Rose enough to interpret what he felt towards her. She had a pretty good idea what was going on because she had also seen where Rose's attention had been focused lately.

"Is it your friend Rose? Does it have something to do with her?" Kristen asked. He jolted his head away sharply.

"Then that's a 'yes'." Kristen said knowingly. That question had been like a knife in his heart, intensifying the already stabbing emotional pain he felt.

"You like her a lot, don't you? Don't worry I won't tell anyone." Kristen assured him. Alex stayed quiet. He was in too much agony to respond.

"Oh, I know what this is about." She continued. _"Please don't let her. Say something else. Anything else. Say something meaningless. I can't take this…" _He thought to himself.

"I've seen her around school. She has a crush on that guy Ben Linus. You like her and she doesn't like you like that. She just likes you as a friend."

"I love her." He blurted out, his voice weak and crackling. He pulled himself up, getting ready to flee the scene.

"That's terrible… No that came out wrong. That's really sweet. But it's terrible that you can't do anything. You're really a great friend, you're willing to be around her all the time and hold all this in, and still act all normal." Kristen said. He stared at her with bloodshot eyes that where filled with thick tears. She reached over and hugged him. He seemed to calm down, but only a little bit. When she pulled away from him, he gave her a look that said 'Don't say anything else or I might die.' She seemed to understand so she didn't say anything else. She simply got a little closer to him and kissed him on the left cheek. His face had almost returned to its normal color. But now it was once more bright red. He looked at her with an expression that said 'Have you lost your mind'. Then he turned around and took off running as fast as he could. He didn't know how he was going to deal with this or if he even could. One thing he knew was that he couldn't face Rose anymore, not for a while at least. And the last person he ever wanted to see again was Kristen Bauer, but he had a sinking feeling he was going to whether he liked it or not.

Next Wednesday came, and with it came the evening of Jimmy's second wrestling match. He had done fairly well in his first match, managing to pin two out of three of his opponents. The Okens were all going to cheer for Jimmy. Susan and Robbie Rod where coming with Michael. Sam was coming and Alice was coming too, of course.

"Rose, Alex is gonna meet you there, right? He doesn't need a ride?" Lilly asked.

"He's not coming." Rose said, a puzzled expression on her face.

"How come? He came last time. He comes to see you at your things too. He comes with you to everything he can actually."

"I don't know. All I know is I called and his mom said he couldn't come, that he was too busy or something."

"That's weird; he's never been too busy before."

"Yeah, he's been acting really strange lately."

"Strange how?"

"He always sits next to me in class. But now… this week he's been sitting across the room. And it seems like he's been avoiding me in the hallways."

"Avoiding you?"

"Yeah, as soon as he sees me he turns and walks off in the opposite direction. I keep calling and his mom keeps telling me he can't talk. And he missed our meeting for the science project. He was supposed to come over so we could work on it together. But he just emailed me the stuff he was supposed to do."

"That's really weird. Did he say anything or did he just start acting like this?"

"He didn't say anything to me. It was this last Saturday, I called him so we could hang out and his mom told me he was busy. I didn't think anything of it. But on Monday at school that's when it really started. I keep trying to catch him and talk to him. But like I said he's been avoiding me."

"Remember when you guys where little and you used to play hide and seek?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Rose replied.

"Whenever Alex was 'it' you could never find him. He was too good of a hider."

"I guess that's why he's been able to hide from me like this. I just wish I knew why he was doing it."

"Give it time; he won't keep it up for long."

"I hope you're right."

After they got to the gym Jimmy got changed and made his way out onto the floor. He began his stretches near the bench. The rest of them were in the bleachers waiting to see him compete.

"Wow look at Jimmy. His muscles have gotten really big." Lilly said.

"A lot of that isn't from training for wrestling. Most of it is from all the working out he was already doing. But this helps." Oliver said. Alice had her eyes locked on Jimmy, as she would for the entire competition. About a half an hour later it was Jimmy's turn to begin his first round. It was pretty close at first. It didn't look as though either Jimmy or his opponent had the upper hand. But after about a minute Jimmy lost whatever advantage he had and was pinned on the mat. He didn't know what had happened. It was as if all of his strength had left him. His family and friends cheered him on anyway. His second round ended even more quickly than the first. His opponent pinned him in less than thirty seconds. He just didn't seem to have any strength. His third and final round was the worst. He was pinned in just over ten seconds. When he walked off of the mat the coach took him aside.

"What's going on with you Oken?" Coach Hayes asked him.

"I don't know. I just kept losing my strength."

"Did you get enough sleep? Did you eat right?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't either of those." Jimmy said.

"Is it you're diabetes?" Hayes asked. Just then it dawned on Jimmy, he pulled his meter out of his towel on the bench. He took a reading.

"What's it say Oken?" Hayes asked.

"It's pretty low. I guess I still haven't gotten one hundred percent adjusted to this whole thing. I must've forgotten to test myself and not eaten the right things to get the reading up."

"You've been lagging in practice lately and this match… I can't ignore what happened tonight. I think you need to sit it out for the rest of the season." Hayes said.

"What?" Jimmy asked. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"You're off the team for the rest of the season. You can certainly come back next year." Hayes said.

"But…" Jimmy started.

"Not buts, now that's my final word." Hayes told him.

Jimmy walked into the locker room and changed. Then he came out into the hallway. Minutes later he was joined by his family and their friends.

"What was the coach talking to you about?" Oliver asked his son.

"I'm off the team. My blood sugar was too low. I couldn't keep up enough strength. I HATE HAVING DIABETES!" Jimmy shouted.

"It's okay. You slipped up a couple of times. You've pretty much got the hang of it." Lilly said.

"But I really wanted to be on the wrestling team." Jimmy vented.

"It'll be okay, you've got plenty of other things. You can get more training in for track and you'll be in great shape for it this spring." Lilly reassured him.

"Okay. I guess that's true." Jimmy conceded.

"And you can still work out like you usually do. That way you'll be even stronger next year for wrestling." Oliver said.

"That's true. I guess I would do that anyway. Now I have more time for everything else." Jimmy said, he smiled a little at Alice.

When Jimmy got home on Friday he and Alice sat down on the couch and started their homework. After an hour had passed Rose came in.

"Jimmy you're a boy. Why is Alex avoiding me?" Rose asked him.

"I don't know. He's your best friend. You should be able to figure it out." Jimmy said flippantly.

"Thanks a lot." Rose said sarcastically.

"Glad I could help." He said as she went up to her room. An hour later, Alice checked the time on her watch.

"Shouldn't your brother be getting home about now?"

"He's probably over at Susan or Robbie's house. He might have gone to the mall with them to do that 'Make a Moose' thing. He loves that."

"Your brother is so adorable."

"Heh…yeah okay. You sound like you have a crush on him." Jimmy teased.

"Well…if only he was my age…and a little taller…oh wait…that's you!" Alice grinned.

"Haw…haw…" Jimmy said mockingly.

"So you don't think he's cute?" Alice asked again.

"Yeah, sure he's pretty funny." Jimmy said.

An hour later they were studying for a math test that was scheduled for next Monday when Jimmy's mother came in. Shortly after that his father got home as well.

"I got a call from Michael's principal. Apparently he wasn't in school today." Lilly said.

"You think he was skipping school with his friends?" Oliver asked.

"I don't think he would do that." Jimmy commented.

"He wasn't. I called Miley, Susan was in school. Then I called Jackson, Robbie was in school too." Lilly said.

"I wonder what he's been up to. Maybe he's in his room?" Oliver said.

"Maybe, I'll go check." Lilly said. She walked up the stairs and approached Michael's room.

"You're in big trouble Michael! I wanna know why you weren't in school today." Lilly said. She received silence, so she stepped into the room. She didn't see him on his bed or sitting at his desk.

"Michael you have some explaining to… OH MY GOD! Michael are you alright? Answer me! Can you hear me!" Lilly shouted frantically. Michael was sprawled out on the floor, he had obviously fallen. His thinned, pale stomach was slightly exposed and his left arm behind his head, the other arm at his side. He was lying on his back, unconscious and his eyes were closed. "OH MY GOD! OLIVER GET UP HERE QUICKLY!" Lilly yelled at the top of her lungs. Fear was flooding into her mind.

**-TO BE CONTINUED-**

_**To learn more about diabetes check out this site (and others) online:**_

_**-The American Diabetes Association **_

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the ninth chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 3-4 years before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties. Jimmy is __**14**__. Rose is __**12**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**10**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	10. We're Gonna Be Alright

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 10: We're Gonna Be Alright–**

"_I got a call from Michael's principal. Apparently he wasn't in school today." Lilly said. "You think he was skipping school with his friends?" Oliver asked. "I don't think he would do that." Jimmy commented. "He wasn't. I called Miley, Susan was in school. Then I called Jackson, Robbie was in school too." Lilly said. "I wonder what he's been up to. Maybe he's in his room?" Oliver said. "Maybe, I'll go check." Lilly said. She walked up the stairs and approached Michael's room. "You're in big trouble Michael! I wanna know why you weren't in school today." Lilly said. She received silence, so she stepped into the room. She didn't see him on his bed or sitting at his desk. "Michael you have some explaining to… OH MY GOD! Michael are you alright? Answer me! Can you hear me!" Lilly shouted frantically. Michael was sprawled out on the floor, he had obviously fallen. His thinned, pale stomach was slightly exposed and his left arm was behind his head, the other arm at his side. He was lying on his back, unconscious and his eyes were closed. "OH MY GOD! OLIVER GET UP HERE QUICKLY!" Lilly yelled at the top of her lungs. Fear was flooding into her mind._

"OLIVER DID YOU HEAR ME? GET UP HERE QUICK!" Lilly shouted hysterically.

"What's wrong Lils?" Oliver asked. But he didn't need to wait for an answer. The sight of his ten year old son lying on the floor unmoving was all the answer he needed. Oliver's heart began racing, beating like a drum about to burst from his chest. "What do we do?"

"We hafta get him to the hospital. You carry him down to the car. I'll drive. I'm not as slow a driver as you Oliver." Lilly said. Oliver knelt down next to Michael, getting ready to lift him into his arms.

"WAIT!" Jimmy shouted suddenly as he entered the room.

"We can't wait. We need to get him to the hospital now Jimmy." Oliver spoke through shaky breaths.

"I know. But he might be in diabetic shock."

"So? Then we definitely need to take him to the hospital." Oliver said. He turned attempted to lift Michael once again.

"STOP!" Jimmy shouted.

"You need to leave the room Jimmy. You're only making things worse." Lilly said angrily.

"No I'm not! If he's in diabetic shock or really any kind of shock, he shouldn't be moved. It'll make it worse, a lot worse." Jimmy said. They both looked at him with confused and panicked looks.

"Then what do we do?" Oliver asked.

"Call an ambulance. They have to make him stable enough and then they can take him to the hospital." Jimmy said. In his head he was thinking _"Didn't you guys read the stuff they gave us? You should know this…"_

"I think he's right. Oliver go…" Lilly started to say. But Oliver was already out of the room. Less than a minute later he returned.

"Ok… they're coming… an ambulance…any minute now…" Oliver said, gasping for breath. He had run from downstairs, he was too frenzied to take anything slowly at the moment. Time seemed to reach a standstill during the space of the four and a half minutes it took for the ambulance to reach the Okens' house. They stood there in silence for most of the wait. Every once in a while one of them would utter a few syllables.

"He'll be okay." Oliver murmured.

"He's strong, he'll be fine." Rose uttered. Jimmy was the one that spoke up and ended the silence. With all the thoughts of how unfair the whole situation seemed to him, Jimmy couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"Why does he always have these things happening to him? He doesn't deserve it. It's not fair." Jimmy said staring down at his brother, who lay motionless. His lips where curved upward in what looked like a smile. It seemed to reassure them that Michael would pull through this as usual. But it was of very little comfort to them.

"Jimmy, of course he didn't do anything to deserve this. He just…I don't know if I can really come up with a reason. Sometimes there's no reason why bad things happen to good people." Lilly said in a trembling voice.

"What if you look at it this way: He was crippled. Everybody thought he's never walk again but he got that back. So he has diabetes and it's not going so good for him right now. But it will." Rose said. Lilly hugged her tight and smiled.

"I'm glad you kids are so smart. I don't know what we'd do without you." Lilly said. Moments later they heard a pounding on the front door.

Oliver raced down the stairs and led the paramedics quickly up the stairs back to Michael. One of them took a reading of his life functions.

"He's unconscious, but respiration (breathing) is ok. Heart rate is slow." The woman said. The other person stepped over and took a reading of Michael's blood sugar.

"I'll stabilize him then we can get him outside and get him to the hospital." He said. Jimmy was watching them both very closely, seeing exactly what they were doing. Everyone else was too nervous to notice the details of what was being done. But Jimmy seemed to be able to find calm within all the panic by focusing on what was being done to his brother. The man injected a needle into Michael's right arm.

"Alright, let's get him onto the gurney." The woman said. They lifted him at both ends, supporting his midsection and secured him on the gurney they had brought with them. When they had Michael in the ambulance the Okens followed it to the hospital.

They all waited in the waiting room for news of Michael's fate. This time not one of them uttered a single syllable. They were all too worried to even think straight. About a half hour later a doctor came out of the double doors marked 'ICU' which stood for intensive care unit.

"I'm Doctor Reed. Michael is doing just fine we just needed to get everything back up to where it needed to be. He's asleep right now but you can all go in and see him. He's in room twenty-three."

They quickly filed in through the doors and made their way down the hall to the room where Michael was lying, asleep on a bed. Lilly sat next to the bed and ran her hand over Michael's forehead. Minutes later he started to wake up.

"I really gotta get better at this whole diabetes thing, huh?" He murmured hazily.

"Don't worry about that right now. We're just glad you're ok." Lilly whispered.

"Don't scare us like that anymore Mikey." Jimmy said. Michael grinned.

"Sorry." He whispered. They sat around him talking to him. The each offered him comfort and told him they would help him figure things out. After a few hours had gone by two doctors stepped through the door. One of them was Doctor Reed, the woman that they had seen earlier and the other was Doctor Dorian, a doctor with which they had a passing familiarity.

"We need to talk to Michael about how he's handling things." Dr. Dorian told them.

"Okay." Oliver said, remaining exactly where he was standing.

"After that he needs to rest so if you could leave for a few hours, it should be okay to see him then." Dr. Reed said. No one argued. The Okens simply left the room.

An hour later it was lunch time so they left the lounge at the end of the hall and went down to the cafeteria to eat. They hadn't even made it half way through their lunch when an orderly came jogging up to them.

"Are you the parents of Michael Oken?" He asked Lilly and Oliver.

"Yes, what's wrong?" Oliver asked, pudding spewing out over his lips and dripping off the point of his chin.

"…Umm… we can't find him." The man said.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" Lilly demanded.

"Umm… the doctors left him about ten minutes ago and when I came in to bring him some juice he was gone. There where pillows stuffed under the sheets like he was trying to make it look like he was still there if someone walked by." The orderly stammered awkwardly.

"We hafta find him!" Oliver spluttered the obvious.

"I've already alerted security." The orderly said.

"They won't find him. He won't be found if he doesn't want to be." Lilly said.

"Alright, we'll look places near him room." Oliver said. So they returned to his room and began looking in the surrounding rooms and the other rooms down the hallway. But he was nowhere to be found. Jimmy and Rose branched off from their parents and walked down another hallway into another section of the hospital.

"I need a soda or something. I'm getting lightheaded." Jimmy said. They walked a little further and Jimmy pulled out some money.

"There's a machine." Rose said pointing. Jimmy got a soda from the machine and drank down half the bottle.

"Okay I'm good." Jimmy said.

"I forgot you could do that, cause you used to be fat." Rose commented, pointing at the half empty soda bottle, and slugging Jimmy lightly in the stomach. He ignored it; he was too pre-occupied with the situation.

They walked down to the end of the hallway and turned onto another. They didn't really know where they were going. They were just walking, hoping to find their brother somewhere. When they rounded another corner Jimmy's eyes widened.

"There he is."

"Where?"

"There. Right there." Jimmy said pointing at Michael who was sitting amongst about five other kids. Three of which were boys and two were girls. Michael wasn't hard to distinguish because he was the only one in the room with hair. As they got closer to the room Jimmy spotted a sign outside the room that labeled the room 'Pediatric Oncology Room 34'.

"Hang on, don't go in. Not yet." Jimmy said putting his hand out to stop Rose.

They watched Michael sitting with the kids. He was talking and laughing with them. They all seemed to be having a good time.

"Ok, let's give him a few more minutes." Jimmy said quietly. They watched as Michael carried on with the group of kids. But before long he spotted them watching him. Feeling caught he simply surrendered. He came out and faced them.

"Having a good time Mikey?" Jimmy asked slightly sarcastically. He said nothing; there really wasn't anything he could say.

"Why'd you run off like that? You scared everybody, you know that?" Rose scolded.

"I don't know… I guess I was scared. The doctors where just standing around me, asking all these questions. It was really freaking me out. So when they were gone I snuck out… and came here." Michael told them.

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

"Cause they were the first kids I found. And they're all really nice. I made friends with one of them. His name is Charlie. I might wanna visit him some time. He told me the doctors say he's almost better. So he'll get to go home soon." Michael said.

"That's cool. But…uhh… which one is Charlie?" Jimmy asked awkwardly.

"Charlie's the kid with the blue and white stripped beanie cap on his head." Michael pointing and waved at the boy he was referring to. They smiled at each other. Charlie was a boy about the same height at Michael, with even darker jet-black hair. He had brown eyes and a honey-brown skin tone. (Asian skin tone on the light side)

"Hang on I'll go back with you guys. I just wanna say goodbye first." Michael insisted.

"Go ahead." Jimmy reluctantly agreed. Michael walked back into the room and said goodbye to all the kids in the room. He hugged Charlie quickly and came back out.

When they got back to the room Michael had a surprise. While his parents were standing in the doorway looking concerned, there were also two other people there to greet him that he was happy to see.

"Doin' better Michael?" Susan Stewart asked. Her mother Miley was standing in the back of the room with her brother Jackson. Susan gave him a big hug, but pulled away suddenly. She looked around at everyone. "What? I thought he needed it!" She said blushing a little bit.

"You'll be fine Mike." Robbie Rod said reassuringly.

"Michael, the doctors said once we found you, you can go home cause your fine now. But when we get home you have to go straight to bed. That's okay cause it'll be your bedtime in a few hours anyway." Lilly said.

"Okay, so do I have to go to school tomorrow?" Michael asked.

"No, you're staying home till the end of the week so you can recover. But this weekend we have an appointment to have you talk to Doctor Reed so you can get this all straightened out and none of this'll happen again." Lilly said. Michael grinned slightly in reaction to not having to go to school.

A minute later Michael had changed and was ready to go home.

"Wait. I have to go say goodbye to somebody." Michael said.

"Who?" Oliver asked.

"My friend, Charlie. He's in the room they found me in." Michael responded.

"Make it quick, you need to get home and get to bed." Oliver said.

"Jimmy go with him." Lilly instructed. Jimmy and Michael walked side-by-side down the corridors until they found the room where Michael had been. The children in the room were all in their beds sipping juice and reading story books. Charlie looked up when Michael came in. He was reading to some of the younger kids.

"Hey Michael, so you're going home?" Charlie grinned.

"Yeah. So when do you go home?" Michael asked. Jimmy pulled Michael back slightly and whispered in his ear _"Michael, he has cancer, he might not be going home for a while." _Jimmy understood the sign at the door that read 'Pediatric Oncology' to mean that all of these kids had cancer, and unfortunately some of them would never be going home. He figured Michael may not understand that. It may not have come up while they were talking.

"_I know. He told me. But he's almost better." _Michael whispered back into Jimmy's ear. He looked back to Charlie.

"Doctor Wilson told me I'm gonna be going home next week." Charlie replied.

"Cool. Maybe we can hang out then." Michael said.

"I'd like that." He grabbed a pad of paper off of the nightstand and wrote something on it.

"Here's my number. I live on Chase Street." Charlie told him.

"That's about a ten minute walk from our house Michael." Jimmy told him.

"Thanks. See ya soon." Michael said. He reached up and hugged Charlie who smiled and hugged him back.

"Ok, Michael, we have to go now." Jimmy said.

"See ya." Michael said, waving to all the children in the room.

They came back to Michael's room and joined up with their parents and Rose. The Stewarts had already left.

"Ok, let's go. It's time." Oliver said. They all made their way out to the car. On the way home they spoke some, but not a lot.

"Michael tell them about your new friend." Jimmy encouraged.

"Yeah, Michael, tell us." Lilly said.

"Ok, his name is Charlie. He had some kind of stomach cancer. But it's gone now. He just needs to get one more treatment, he gets to go home next week."

"So are you gonna hang out with him when he gets home?" Lilly asked.

"I hope so. He gave me his number." Michael said, handing his mother the piece of paper that had been in his pocket.

"Charlie Hartman. Is he a nice kid?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah. He likes baseball just like me. We might play catch or something."

"Sounds like fun." Oliver chimed in.

When they got home it was late afternoon.

"Jimmy take your brother up and make sure he gets into bed right away." Lilly said. Jimmy walked up the stairs behind Michael.

"Get into your pajamas and I'll come in and tell you a story ok?" Jimmy asked.

"I'm almost eleven! I don't need you to tell me a story." Michael pouted.

"You not almost eleven. Your birthday isn't for another ten months. I'll be fifteen in about eight months though… So no story huh?" Jimmy asked.

"No story. But come in and we can talk." Michael said.

"Okay, that works." Jimmy said. About two minutes later Michael said "Come on in." Jimmy came in, Michael was already in bed under the covers, so he sat at the foot of the bed.

"So what do you wanna talk about little bro?" Jimmy asked.

"Not diabetes!" Michael said decisively.

"How about school then?" Jimmy asked.

"Okay. Umm… that was great; you won all your arguments at your first two debate meets."

"Yeah, it felt good. Especially after being cut from the wrestling team. But it's fun doing debate, cause Alice is on my team and well we make a great team… and she's so cute… and smart… and cute…" Jimmy said, trailing off.

"Jimmy!" Michael said loudly, nudging him with his foot through the covers.

"What?"

"You were getting distracted, drooling over Alice. Too much information by the way."

"Was I? Sorry."

"She's really cool, but you don't need to tell me that much."

"That's true. So how's school for you? You're gonna join the baseball team next school year, right?"

"Yeah, me and Susan and Robbie are all gonna try out."

"That's cool… Well I can't think of anything else to talk about. So 'night."

"'Night." Michael replied. Jimmy left the room and went downstairs.

Over the weekend Rose still had not been able to corner Alex and find out why he was acting so strange. So when she got to school on Monday she promised herself she was going to make a determined effort to catch him and get him to talk. Alex was the last person to arrive for their first class. But that seemed to be his point. He found the only seat that was left. It was as far away from where Rose was sitting as possible. He managed to repeat this same strategy for their next two classes. But when lunch period rolled around Rose was fed up with him ducking her like this. She was going to catch him and that's all there was to it. He managed to avoid her for the first ten minutes. He would see her coming and walk the other way, just as he had been doing the week before. For a while it seemed to be working. But Rose formed a plan. She pretended to be going up the stairs in the courtyard but only climbed two stairs. Then she snuck back down behind a group of tall people and managed to double back around where Alex was standing, without him seeing her. He began to walk off towards the cafeteria when a hand grabbed him firmly.

"Gotcha!" Rose announced triumphantly.

"What? Where've you been? I've been trying to find you." Alex lied.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. You've been avoiding me for over a week. What's going on? Let's hear it." Rose demanded.

"It's just that…" He started to say. He couldn't really think of what to say. He thought avoiding her would help bury the feelings he had. But what he hadn't considered was what he would do when he did eventually have to talk to her again. He thought to himself _"I love you Rose!... Of course I can't say that… that'd be insane." _

"So what is it? Why've you been avoiding me?" Rose repeated, more firmly than her fingernails that were starting to dig into his scrawny arm.

"I…don't wanna talk about it." Alex said, looking down and away from her.

"Come on. I caught you. Now tell me." Rose insisted.

"I can't… It's just… trust me… you don't wanna hear it." Alex insisted.

"Yes I do. I definitely want to hear why my best friend won't have anything to do with me." Rose retorted.

"It's really not what you would think… it's not important. Sorry I avoided you. Okay?" He said, hoping she would drop the line of questioning because the level of tension within him was building to an overload while the circulation in his arm was steadily declining. But there was no such luck. Rose wasn't giving up that easily, she wanted answers. Giving up just wasn't the way Rose operated.

"No it's not okay. I want answers right now! Best friends don't keep things from each other." Rose said insistently.

"_Well I'm keeping this one from you. Chances are you'd be even madder if I did tell you."_ Alex thought.

"Come on don't just stand there and stare. Come on spill it already!" Rose demanded.

"NO! I don't wanna talk about it alright? Just leave me alone!" Alex shouted.

"I'll leave you alone for right now. But we're not going back to you avoiding me." Rose said.

"Fine. But don't ask me to tell you, okay?" Alex asked, pealing Roses' fingers from his arm.

"Fine. But eventually I'll figure it out. You'll see." Rose told him.

"_I hope so… but not just yet." _Alex thought to himself.

Four months later in February, Jimmy, Alice and Sam were walking down the hallways of Sea View High School.

"Sam, how's it going with Summer?" Alice asked.

"How's _what_ going with Summer?" Sam asked looking confused.

"Are you serious?" Jimmy asked.

"Serious about what? What're you guys talking about?" Sam asked, even more confused.

"You guys went to homecoming together." Jimmy reminded him.

"So? And what's that got to do with anything?" Sam asked, dumbfounded.

"Apparently nothing." Alice said through gritted teeth.

"Am I missing something here? It seems like you two know something and it's just totally escaped me." Sam said.

"Did you ask her out again?" Alice asked.

"No…uhh…I guess I thought about it… but I still couldn't seem to talk to her. You know?" Sam said, embarrassed.

"No we don't know. Why couldn't you just do it?" Jimmy asked.

"That's true, you don't know. With you two it was really easy. But I'm not that good at talking to girls. Especially ones I haven't known my whole life." Sam told them.

"You should just do it man. Just ask her out. It's easier than you think. All you hafta do is walk up to her and say 'Summer, wanna go out some time?' It's quick, easy, and painless. Trust me." Jimmy informed him.

"But what if she says no? Then it's like taking off a bandage." Sam asked.

"She's not gonna say no Sam. You're a catch. Trust me she'll say yes." Alice insisted.

"But what if I…" Sam started to say.

"You won't Sam. You'll do fine." Jimmy said.

"So I just ask her? That's it?" Sam asked.

"That's it. There she is now. Be yourself. Relax." Alice said. Jimmy reached out and gave Sam a small nudge.

Sam made his way slowly and hesitantly over to where Summer was sitting. Much to his luck she was alone at the moment, which made things easier for him.

"Hey Sam." Summer said in a bubbly voice.

"Hey." Sam mumbled incoherently. He sat down across from her and tried to start what he was hoping would lead to any easy 'yes'. "Hey…umm…Summer…you know… it was fun…the dance…youwannagooutagainsometime?" But he was mumbling and facing down toward the table. So all Summer could see was Sam's dark red hair and some of the freckles on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" Summer said, stifling a laugh. This made things all the more difficult for Sam.

"Uhhmm… you wanna go out with me some time?" Sam asked clearly.

"No. You waited too long. I might be seeing someone." Summer said flat out. Sam got up and walked away before he was wounded any further.

He headed back over to Jimmy and Alice. He had a sinking feeling in his chest. A feeling of having lost. "So how'd it go?" Jimmy asked immediately.

"Awesome!" Sam said, giving Jimmy a disgusted look.

"Thanks a lot you guys!" Sam slammed them.

"Sorry. We didn't know she'd say no." Alice said innocently.

"You should've known I waited too long!" Sam told them off.

"Why're you mad at us man? You were the one that waited too long." Jimmy said. Alice smacked him in the side of his stomach.

"Gee thanks a lot!" Sam said. He wanted to kick something; he was so angry and disappointed at the same time.

"Hi Sam." A girl named Emily Ross said as she walked by waving cutely and grinning at him.

"Hi…" He said inaudibly.

"You guys should've warned me about… hang on I'll be right back." Sam stopped talking abruptly.

He jogged off and caught up with Emily.

"Hey Emily…" Sam said.

"Yes Sam?" Emily said smiling a big smile.

"Will you go out with me some time?" He asked confidently.

"Yeah, alright. I'd like that a lot...I thought you'd never ask." Emily replied happil.

"Awesome!" Sam exclaimed awkwardly. He moved off, walking back towards Jimmy and Alice with a big smile on his face.

"Sam!" Emily called out. He turned back around.

"Yeah?" He asked. She came up to him and grabbed his hand. He thought he was going to pass out. She pulled out a purple metallic magic marker and wrote on his hand. He looked at what she had written, but he was too giddy to recognize what it was she had written on the back of his hand.

"What is it?" He uttered.

"My number." Emily said giggling lightly.

"Call me… we can figure out what we're gonna do on our first date. I can't wait to tell my friends I have a boyfriend now. I mean it's not like it was a race to get a boyfriend or anything. I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything. I wasn't really thinking about anybody else." Emily started to ramble on a little, but Sam thought it only made her cuter.

"I know… you've been saying 'hi' to me a lot lately." Where the only words that came out of Sam's mouth.

"Yeah, I'm glad it finally worked. You're funny. I think I like that." Emily said. What was funny at the moment was that Sam was standing very still staring at Emily with a deadpan expression. The reality of what had just happened and what he had just done had now caught up with him, he was giddy and nervous all that the same time.

"So I'll see you later… call me." Emily said.

"I will." Sam said simply. And he would. He was determined not to drop the ball with Emily the way he had with Summer. She turned to face him again, a little surprised because he was still rooted to the exact same spot. She smiled slightly at this.

"By the way… I think boys with freckles and gorgeous dimples named Sam Brooks are really cute." She said smiling. She waited for a few seconds, but Sam said nothing, he was too awe-stricken, so she walked off. She figured when he was ready, he'd have lots on nice things to say.

Moments later Alice and Jimmy came up to him and stared at him. He was still standing in the exact same spot, stiff as a board, with the same silly look on his face.

"What just happened Sam?" Alice asked. Sam said nothing.

"What were you and Emily Ross talking about? What did she write on your hand man?" Jimmy asked. He still said nothing. Jimmy grabbed Sam's hand and looked at what was written on it.

"She wrote her phone number on your hand? Why?" Jimmy asked.

"I think I just asked her out. I don't know why. It just hit me and then I did it." Sam mumbled.

"And?" Alice asked.

"I think I have a girlfriend now. At least that's what she said." Sam said, and little off still.

"But it's not Summer." Alice reminded him.

"I'm okay with that." Sam told her.

"Way to go man!" Jimmy said, clapping Sam on the back causing him to move forward a little bit. They walked down the hall for their next class. Jimmy and Alice were talking but Sam just smiled and said nothing.

Meanwhile Rose was walking down the hall for lunch at Sea View Middle school with her best friend Alex. He still had not told her the reason for distancing himself from her months ago. He was still torn apart inside. But he was managing to deal with it and not become emotional on the outside. But he needed to say something. He needed to clear the air. He was a good friend and a good person so he had to clear things up with Rose. Even if he didn't actually tell her the truth, he felt any kind of explanation was better than none at all.

"Rose you know how I was avoiding you a while back?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's been four months. It took you that long to decide to tell me?" Rose asked.

"Yeah…well I wasn't sure how you would take it." Alex said. Just then he knew he was going to come right out and tell her the truth. It was better than holding it in. He would just have to deal with the consequences, whatever they might be.

"So what was it that made you avoid me like that?" Rose asked.

"Well I think I lo…" He started but he saw someone that made him stop for a moment. It was Kristen Bauer, the girl that had comforted him the night of the play. For some reason seeing Kristen again made him stop what he was doing. "

You think you what?" Rose asked.

"I think I was sick. Yeah. I had to leave that night cause I felt like I might throw up. I went straight home and went to bed. I felt bad that whole night. I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you. It's just that it happened all of a sudden." Alex said. He felt awful lying to Rose. But all of a sudden all the reasons he couldn't tell her the truth had flooded back into his mind.

"Okay. I understand that. But why did you start avoiding me the next week and until I cornered you?" Rose asked. He had hoped the initial explanation would suffice, but Rose was way too smart to accept it just like that.

"Well I was sick for like a week after the play." Alex told her.

"If you were that sick then why didn't you stay home?" Rose asked, not buying the story.

"Cause my parents didn't believe me. I was just sick to my stomach. No fever. Nothing they could see." Alex explained. In a way this was true. He was sick to his stomach, but not in a literal sense. He was love sick.

"And that was so hard to tell me? You couldn't have just told me right off?" Rose asked.

"Well I didn't want to get close to you cause I didn't want you to catch what I had." Alex continued the lie.

"Ok, but still after that, when I cornered you and we started do stuff together again. Why couldn't you have told me then?" Rose asked.

"I thought you might think it was really lame. You know avoiding you cause I was sick. That sounds stupid doesn't it? Now that I think of it, you're right, I should've told you."

"Yeah I'm right. But you're forgiven. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't forgive you?"

"So we're cool then?"

"Yeah we're cool." Rose said. Of course inside Alex was anything but cool. Inside his heart was still torn into pieces and he was still neck deep in emotional turmoil. But he was trying to learn to deal with it. He would just have to learn to ignore all the regret and discomfort that being around Rose brought. After all she was his best friend. He loved her and couldn't stand not to be with her, even though he couldn't be _with _her.

When the weekend rolled around Jimmy and Alice came strolling in the front door of his house. They didn't kiss each other all the time as they had done for a while. Instead they said cute things to each other that made other people almost as uncomfortable as the kissing.

"You're so cute." Jimmy said, smiling at Alice.

"You're cuter." Alice said.

"No you are." Jimmy said.

"Enough. We get it." Rose said.

"Okay, but you are cute Allipop." Jimmy said.

"You too…Jimmy…pop." Alice said.

"You know that's what you're dad and I used to call each other. 'Lillypop and Olliepop'" Lilly told her son.

"Ohhh gross! Blehh!" Jimmy said, imitating throwing up. He looked at Alice, "Never again."

_**To learn more about diabetes/cancer check out this site (and others) online:**_

_**-The American Diabetes Association**_

_**-The American Cancer Association **_

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_*Sorry this one took so long. I've had a lot going on. I will try to make future chapters come a little quicker. But I can't make any promises. There are quite a few left. So keep checking. _

_***In the next chapter **__it is going to be moved forward to the summer when Jimmy turns 15 (And Rose will turn 13, and Michael will turn 11.) But Jimmy's birthday happens first. _

_** This is the tenth chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place 3-4 years before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**14**__. Rose is __**12**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**10**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	11. Now You Know

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 11: Now You Know–**

It was a dark summer evening in Malibu. Jimmy was running down the beach for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. It was something he did to relax himself when he had a lot on his mind. Running and weightlifting were his two big stress relievers; that and being with his girlfriend. But even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, sometimes Alice added to his stress. It was the stress of making sure he said the right things at the right times. She told him he never seemed to need to work at that. But the truth was it was hard work for him. But he did it happily. There was also the stress of being there for her when she was in a bad mood or when she was sad. He also had to work at this a lot. But he was more than certain he wouldn't let her down in any circumstance and it actually made him happy being there for her.

But the real stress at this moment wasn't from Alice or his family. It was from all of the expectations he would need to start to satisfy. He was at the age now where he needed money and mowing lawns on his street wasn't doing the trick. He had decided it time for him to get a job. He could only work part time because of his age but that was good enough for the time being. And he did have the need for more spending money at the moment. He had a girlfriend he needed money to spend on. He didn't mind this at all. When he spent money on Alice it didn't feel like a burden at all, in fact it felt like the right thing to do. He had things he wanted to buy for himself and he didn't want to keep asking his parents for money he knew they wouldn't give him. He was also getting ready to learn how to drive. And he knew how difficult driving lessons with his father where going to be. But it meant more independence in the near future, so he was willing to suffer through it. He was getting his learners' permit tomorrow, and then he had to get enough driving training before he turned sixteen to qualify for the driving test to get his drivers' license. He was looking forward to it. But not necessarily having to put up with his dad 'side seat driving'.

Jimmy ran down the beach powerfully. It was much easier than it had been when he first developed the habit, so he now had to run much longer to get the same feeling of accomplishment and the same amount of stress relief. He ran through the dry heat without a shirt on, beads of sweat on the ends of his short buzzed hair. He was thin with a considerably muscular body. But he never stopped to think about that. It was never something that really meant anything to him. The only result of his exercise that meant anything to him was his level-headedness and health. He knew it made him look good but it was always in the back of his mind that if he were ever to relax his focus on exercise he would go back to that porky, hot-headed boy he used to be. But he didn't let this fear consume him or become an obsession. He just kept it in the back of his mind as a reminder of what he had gained and what he had left behind, hopefully forever.

Tomorrow was his fifteenth birthday. He knew Sam and Alice and his family where planning something. He didn't know what, so it would still be easy enough for him to be surprised. When he arrived home he stopped at the door and picked up the towel he had left for himself and wiped the sweat off of himself. Then he pulled the undershirt, which had been next to the towel, over his head and down to his waist. He came inside to see Rose and Michael sitting on the couch across from Alice who was sitting in an arm chair.

"We get it Jimmy, you love your body. But you don't hafta show up shirtless in front of us." Rose complained.

"One, I don't love my body…Well I mean I don't have an oversized ego like that. Two, I went running and when I go running I sweat. So I figured I'd go without a shirt. Besides if I ran with a shirt on you'd just give me a hard time for coming back in a sweat stained shirt." Jimmy said. Rose said nothing because she knew he was right and there was nothing she could come up with for a good comeback.

"Well I think he looks good." Alice said squeezing the front of his bulging right bicep muscle.

"We know…we know." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Well I think _you_ look _great_." Jimmy said running his hand from the small of her back upwards to her shoulder blades, pulling her in for a small kiss on the lips. Michael cringed a little bit, but said nothing. They were all, for the most part, used to seeing Jimmy kissing Alice in front of them. He had become more discreet about it lately and it was also less often that it happened. Jimmy and Alice had decided to become more of a spoken couple and less physical.

"Listen Jimmy I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." Alice said, disguising a grin fairly unsuccessfully.

"Yeah you will." Jimmy said, not disguising his grin at all. She walked out the door and was gone. But Jimmy just stood there grinning for several minutes. This was one thing he shared with his father, awkwardness when thinking about girls, but not nearly to the same extent. Jimmy merely tended to hold onto a smile for awkward lengths of time.

"Jimmy…snap out of it!" Michael said waving his hand in front of Jimmy's face.

"Sorry." Jimmy said simply. He sat down in the chair facing away from the front door, but then he looked over at the chair Alice had been sitting in and quickly moved over to it.

"So… any big plans for tomorrow?" Jimmy fielded.

"Nope, just the usual." Rose answered.

"Nothing to do with my birthday?" Jimmy guessed.

"Well it's not much of a surprise if we tell you, is it?" Michael said.

"Michael! Quiet!" Rose scolded through clenched teeth. Michael silenced himself.

"Okay then. See ya' tomorrow." Jimmy chuckled.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Jimmy snapped awake to the sound of his family shouted up to him. He was only partly awake so he didn't say anything. "Happy Birthday Jimmy!" His brother and sister shouted again as they strode into his room.

"Huh, yeah." He mumbled scratching his stomach lazily. Then he snapped wide awake. "Woh." He exclaimed pulling his pajama shirt down abruptly.

"That was gross…" Rose said.

"Sorry, you guys snuck up on me… I thought I was dreaming." Jimmy told them.

"So you took the time to rub your stomach? Why do you hafta be such a _boy_ all the time?" Rose asked.

"Sorry, I was born that way. What's going on? What time is it?" Jimmy asked, sitting up in his bed.

"It's your birthday." Michael exclaimed.

"I know that little bro. But what're you guys doing?" Jimmy asked.

"Getting you up so you can come down for breakfast." Rose answered.

On the way down the stairs he could already smell the aroma of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. When he got there he was greeted by a pleasant but not totally unexpected surprise. "Scrambled eggs and French toast, my favorite of course."

"Happy birthday Jimmy!" his mother said hugging him warmly.

"How's it feel big guy?" his father asked.

"The same as it did yesterday… I mean great!" Jimmy said trying to sound enthusiastic. It wasn't that he wasn't excited for his birthday. There were so many things that excited him about this day. He was still only partly awake, so it was hard for him to act excited at the moment.

"Well, later on today we'll go and get your learners' permit, then we can start driving lessons. Won't that be great?" Oliver asked his son.

"Yeah, can't wait!" Jimmy said, his enthusiasm starting to become more apparent.

"I hafta go take care of something; I'll be back in a little while." Lilly said.

"Okay." Oliver replied. He had no idea what it was she was doing, but he figured it must have been something she'd forgotten about for Jimmy's birthday. Jimmy finished his breakfast and sat down on the couch next to his brother.

"So…what's up with you two?" Jimmy asked.

"You wanna know… okay… there's this really cute boy at school named Ben and …" Rose said, obviously not being serious.

"Okay. Not quite what I meant. Michael how 'bout you?" Jimmy asked.

"I'm gonna go play some baseball with Robbie and Susan and Charlie tomorrow." Michael told him. Charlie was a new friend that Michael had made during his last visit to the hospital. Charlie had been part of Michael's group of friends ever since then.

It got to be about noon when Jimmy's father said "Ready? We're gonna go down to the DMV." Jimmy was out the door before Oliver even finished the sentence. "I guess that answers that question." Oliver said. When they got there it seemed like a million people where there waiting in line. "This could take a while so don't psych yourself out too much." Oliver told Jimmy.

"Umm dad… nobody says 'psych yourself out' anymore."

"Ok, well then don't get too nervous."

They sat there patiently waiting to be called up for the next hour. Jimmy filled out the form he had been given on the way in. When Jimmy's number was called he jumped up and made a bee-line to the counter. His father caught up with him seconds later. They women behind the counter read the form.

"Oken, James Oliver. Age fifteen, as of today. Height: five feet and seven and one half inches. Weight: one hundred forty-five pounds. Hair: black. Eyes: blue. Is all of this information correct?" She asked in a lazy voice.

"Yes." Jimmy said shakily. He was very nervous at this point.

"All right young man. You must be very excited. Big day for you, huh?" The woman asked blandly, looking like she was half asleep. Jimmy gave his father a funny look as if he were saying _"This lady is acting like I'm a little kid."_

"Yeah, I guess so." Jimmy replied.

"You guess so? Well if that's how you feel then I guess you don't really want your leaners' permit that badly." She said, with a lopsided grin. He didn't move a muscle. He was fairly certain this was supposed to be funny, at least to adults. Jimmy wasn't laughing.

"Oh, don't give me that look, relax kid it was a joke." She said. "Okay I need to test you vision. Put your face against the scanner where it shows you to." He did as he was told. A series of bright lights flashed into his eyes. "Okay, all done. Perfect vision in both eyes. You can go over there and take the test. Then we'll get your picture and print your permit." She said. Jimmy walked over to a booth to the right and stepped up to a touch sensitive screen and entered his name. After ten minutes he came back over to the desk. The women came lazily over to him, almost spilling her coffee, and said "Alright you passed." All of the nervousness had left him with that three word sentence.

"Ok stand on the yellow line and look at the camera… okay great. Wait a minute and I'll bring you your permit." The lady instructed. She came back several minutes later and handed him a card. "There you are, have a nice day." He took the glossy card. It looked just like a driver's license except everything was printed vertically instead of horizontally.

When they got out into the parking lot they paused for a moment. Oliver tossed something to Jimmy. Jimmy looked into his hands to see what he'd caught.

"Why'd you throw me your keys?" Jimmy asked, bewildered.

"You're driving home." Oliver smiled.

"Are you nuts?"

"Well my last name is Oken. But don't you want to?"

"Yeah! I just didn't think you'd want me to… yet."

"What good is a learner's permit if you're not permitted to learn?"

"Okay, but mom'll lose it when she finds out." Jimmy warned.

"That's why we're not gonna tell her. Okay?" Oliver told him.

They got in the car. Jimmy started to drive them home.

"Alright focus a little more on keeping the car in the center of the lane." Oliver said a little tensely. They were passing a bank when Oliver noticed someone in the parking lot that caught his eye. It was a woman with a man, they were talking and laughing and smiling at each other. "Lilly?" Oliver said out loud, puzzled.

"Yeah that's mom." Jimmy said. Oliver looked forward again.

"Jimmy eyes front!" Oliver shouted. Jimmy sprang to attention and quickly steered himself back to where he needed to be in the lane.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Just don't let it happen again."

When they got home Jimmy's mother still wasn't there. But she came rushing in about fifteen minutes later.

"Well Jimmy we decided you were too old for a party with games and stuff." Lilly said.

"I haven't had one of those since I was ten." Jimmy responded.

"…So I just called some of your friends and they're gonna get together with you for dinner tonight." Lilly said with a smile.

"Sounds cool, thanks mom."

That afternoon he sat around the living room while his family and the Stewarts gave him birthday presents.

"Wow Michael a keychain…ookay…oh it's one of those one's if you lose it it's got a locator so you can find it with your cell phone. Cool! Thanks little bro." Jimmy said patting Michael on the back.

"Here, this one's from me." Rose said holding out her present. Jimmy opened it and tossed the wrapping paper onto the table in front of him.

"A book. _'How Boys Can Impress Girls without Looking Stupid'. _Very classy of you little sis. Thanks." He said, giving her a slight smile.

"We adults all decided to come together and got you one thing." Jackson said. He placed an envelope in Jimmy's hand. He opened it, it was a check.

"Three hundred dollars. You guys know I got a job right?" Jimmy asked. "Not that I don't appreciate this." He finished.

"Yeah. What's the job?" Marlene asked.

"I'm working over at Malibu General Hospital helping file patient records in the computer system." Jimmy answered.

"Sounds like fun." Jackson said.

"You have no idea." Jimmy replied very sarcastically.

"Well at least you get to see lots of medical stuff, right?" Susan asked.

"Sometimes. But mostly it's just really ordinary patients that pass by where I am." Jimmy said.

"But working there'll help you out down the road, right?" Miley asked.

"That's true. They told me they'd help me get into training programs. I think I might take them up on that when it's open for me. We've been in and out of the hospital a lot the last few years. I think I'm really starting to get interested in that kinda stuff." Jimmy replied enthusiastically.

"So what are they paying you?" Jackson asked.

"It's fifteen dollars an hour."

"Wow. Times have changed. When I worked for Rico he only paid me seven an hour. Then again, you do have a better job than selling drinks and year old hot dogs." Oliver told him.

"Seven? When I worked for him, Rico only paid me six fifty! No fair!" Jackson exclaimed.

"Ya'll quit your belly-achin'." Miley told them.

Later that day Jimmy met up with his friends at a restaurant just off of the pier. When they were seated Jimmy sat down next to Alice. Sam sat down with his girlfriend Emily. They had been dating for several months, since Sam had asked her out on the spur of the moment. Several of his other, less close, friends from school sat around the table.

"So did your family get you anything good this year?" Sam asked.

"Sure. I guess. I got a keychain from my brother, a book from my sister, and money from my parents and their friends." Jimmy replied.

"Did you do the really big thing today?" Alice asked.

"You mean getting my learner's permit? Yeah I did." Jimmy said.

"Okay, then let's see it." Sam insisted.

Jimmy pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out his new learner's permit. He passed it over to Sam. "Nice face you made." He said laughing.

"It's not any worse than the one you made Sammy. Why don't you show them yours?" Emily suggested, pocking him in the side gingerly. Sam was about a month older than Jimmy so he had already gotten his learner's permit.

"Fine. But don't laugh too hard." Sam said passing over his permit along with Jimmy's.

"Hah. Nice one man." Jimmy said, holding in a small laugh.

"What? I had something in my eye." Sam swore. In the picture Sam was making a squinting look with his eyes.

"Don't sweat it you guys I think everybody's pictures comes out weird. Check out mine." Chris, a friend of Jimmy's from the track team, said, tossing his learner's permit over to Jimmy and Sam.

"Oh yeah…that's definitely a good one Chris." Jimmy mock complimented him. Chris' picture looked like he was getting ready to sneeze.

"Well I have the best one of all you guys." Julie, a friend of Jimmy and Alice from the debate group, said handing her permit over.

"Nice one Julie. Was it windy out or something?" Alice asked.

"Must've been. That's horrible." Julie said. In her picture her hair was so frizzy she looked almost comical.

"Michael pass the ball." Charlie shouted across the field at Sea View Middle School. It was a hot Thursday afternoon, so they were all dressed in shorts and short sleeved shirts. When Michael pitched the baseball to Charlie it whooshed through the air and slapped into Charlie's mitt. "Wow! You guys weren't kidding; Michael has a really good pitching arm." Charlie said, wincing slightly from the sting the impact of the ball caused on his hand, even through the mitt. Michael had recently met Charlie in the hospital. But Charlie had recovered from a very different condition than Michael. Charlie had recovered from cancer and had been free of it for several months now. His jet black hair and honey-tan complexion had since returned.

"Let's do some real practice, okay?" Susan suggested.

"Alright. I'll pitch. You be at bat Charlie. And the other positions go to Susan and Robbie." Michael called out. They all got into position. Michael drew back his arm and pitched the ball. Charlie's swing missed by less than an inch.

"Strike one!" Susan announced. Michael's second pitch just barely made past Charlie's bat. It was so close if they hadn't known better they would have thought the bat must have made contact.

"Strike two!" Susan shouted. Michael drew back his arm and pitched the ball for the third time. SMACK! Charlie had hit the ball with as much force as he could. It went sailing out to the far end of the field and bounced off of the wall, landing in the sand below. But before it had made it even half way there Charlie had dropped the bat and begun running the basses. He had made it all the way to third base before Michael made it back to the diamond part of the field. He was right behind Charlie when he was half way to home plate. Charlie wanted to make the home run very badly. He felt that somehow it would help him prove himself worthy to his new friends. He felt this way even though none of them had really given him the impression that he needed to prove himself. It was really a boy thing to need to prove himself to new friends.

Charlie knew Michael was inches behind him so he took a dive on the ground toward the plate. He slid in and tagged the plate with his hand. A split second later, Michael tagged him on the backside with the ball. But it was too late for that.

"Safe! Home Run!" Susan proclaimed. Charlie rolled over onto his back. His Asian-like-tan skinned stomach was part way exposed from having slid on the dirt. He was very thin, even thinner than Michael, who was the thinnest of the original three. He had lost some weight off of his already thin frame from being in the hospital. His treatment had made it hard for him to eat much of anything while he was there.

Charlie jumped up with a big smile on his face. "Woo-hooo!" He exclaimed. They all took turns giving him a high five.

"Way to go Charlie. You definitely have to try out with us for the school team this year. That must've stunk not getting to practice and everything when you were in the hospital. You're really good, and you…ohhh… woops sorry." Robbie said.

"Sorry for what?" Charlie asked, with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Umm… what I said about being in the hospital…you probably don't want us talking 'bout that." Robbie said, looking down at his feet, embarrassed.

"It's okay. I don't mind that." Charlie assured him.

"It's just…I thought maybe it might make you sad or something to think about it." Robbie mumbled.

"No… It happened. It doesn't make me sad. I don't look at it like that. I try to look at it in a way that makes me happy. You know… it happened. I got better, and now it's over with. I always try to be happy." Charlie told him.

"It's true. He's always happy. His mom said no matter how bad it got, every day when he was there; he had a smile on his face… no matter what. She says he's almost too happy." Michael told Robbie. This was all true. Charlie was always a very bright mannered and happy boy, no matter what happened.

"Why shouldn't I be happy? I met Michael and now I have a best friend. And now I have you guys for friends too. You guys are all great. So I'm gonna go on being happy." Charlie said with a heartwarming smile.

"You're really cool Charlie." Susan said.

"Yeah, man, you're cool with us!" Robbie said. This was the kind of acceptance Charlie had been hoping for.

Oliver drove up to the middle school parking lot to pick Michael and his friend up and take them home. When he got to the field he saw Lilly and a man walking in the same direction. It was the very same man he had seen her with the other day when he was in the car with Jimmy.

"I thought you said you couldn't make it to pick them up? You had errands or something." Oliver said. Lilly was taken by surprise. She hadn't seen him coming. So when he spoke to her she flinched a little bit.

"I…uhh...I didn't think I would… but I was… It turned out I was in the area so I decided to stop by and get them. It was too late to tell you so, sorry." Lilly said, stammering a little bit.

"It's okay; I'll take them all home. You finish up what you've got left." Oliver said. Oliver loved Lilly more than anything in the world. And he never thought her capable of any major deceit towards him. But seeing her in public with a man he had never met before was making Oliver worry. _"It's probably nothing."_ He thought to himself.

"Oh, Oliver, did you get the stuff to fix our bedroom door?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, I already have it up there. I'll work on it this weekend." Oliver said. He walked onto the field on the opposite side of the fence from the kids. "Alright you guys time to go home." He called out to them. They obediently followed him to the car.

As the rode home Michael asked "Hey dad, can Charlie come over on Saturday? The rest of us are gonna do something, and we want him to too."

"Of course, that sounds great."

On Saturday Charlie came over to go bike riding with Michael, Susan and Robbie. As they were leaving, Jackson showed up with some power tools.

"Robbie, make sure you're home before five for dinner. Unless you're staying overnight, then call me." Jackson told his son. He walked into the living room.

"Hey, Jackson what's with all this stuff?" Lilly said pointing at the carrying cases he was holding.

"Oh, I'm helping Oliver fix that door." Jackson explained.

"Good. He's been putting that off for a while now." Lilly said. Just then Oliver walked in.

"Great, so you brought the stuff right Jackson?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, right here." Jackson said, gesturing to the things he had just put on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

"Alright let's get to it." Oliver said.

"Why're you in such a big hurry Oliver? You've been really grumpy all day. What's going on?" Lilly asked.

"Nothing. I just wanna get it done." Oliver grumbled.

"You weren't in such a big hurry till now. How come?" Lilly asked.

"Let's go Jackson." Oliver said in a low voice.

When they got upstairs to the bedroom door Jackson put his tools down. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing…it's just…"Oliver trailed off.

"It's just what?"

"Nothing."

"Okaay. Well the first thing we need to do is get the door off the hinges." Jackson said. When they had done that Jackson unpacked some of the power tools.

"A cordless power saw? Really?" Oliver asked giving him a look.

"I don't know. I just like using it."

"We don't have anything to use it for."

"Okay, well let's start sanding off the top."

They got busy rubbing the sandpaper over the top of the door to smooth it out. Oliver looked up at Jackson.

"All right you wanna know what's going on?"

"Sure. What is it?" Jackson asked.

"Well I think Lilly might…" Oliver started. But just then Rose's best friend Alex came up the stairs.

"Hey Alex, how's it going?" Jackson greeted him.

"Great Mr. Stewart. Umm is Rose up here? Mrs. O said she might be and we were supposed to go down to the pier with some friends." Alex explained.

"I don't think she is. I think you just missed her. She might still be out front. I'd check there." Oliver replied.

"Okay, thanks." Alex said. But he stayed standing where he was. He stood in that spot for a few seconds which soon became thirty seconds.

"Was there something else Alex?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Umm, yeah…it's really hard for me to say." Alex stammered.

"Well the easiest way to get something off your chest is to just let it out." Oliver said.

"It's kind of a big…thing." Alex said, shifting his right foot around and looking down at his feet.

"What's it about then, for starters?" Oliver asked, trying to get him in the right direction.

"Umm… it's about…ummm… about Rose." Alex said hesitantly.

"What about her?"

"She…uhh… I…" Alex stuttered.

"Is it about the pier? Is it about school? Surfing?" Oliver asked, trying to guess.

"No, nothing like that." Alex said.

"Well then what _is _it about?" Oliver asked, getting a little impatient.

"I think… I… I think…"

"You think what?" Oliver asked.

"I think I have feelings for her."

"What kind of feelings?" Oliver asked. _"Ohh. He's making this really hard. I was hoping he'd leave it at 'feelings' and I could back out of this."_ Alex thought to himself.

"Umm… I think I love her. There, now you know." Alex blurted out, with his eyes clenched shut. He opened them slowly.

"See the world's not coming to an end, that wasn't so hard. So you think you love her, huh?" Oliver asked him.

"_I know I do, but let's just say 'think' for now." _Alex thought to himself.

"Yeah, I think so. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. I'm happy for you. I'm glad she's got someone like you that has that kind of feelings for her. So what does she think of this?" Oliver asked.

"Uhh… I didn't tell her. I can't tell her."

"What do you mean you can't tell her? Just practice saying it to a mirror, or an unconscious friend like I did. And before you know it you'll be ready and it'll be really easy.

"You don't understand. It's not that simple." Alex said, a little frustrated.

"Sure it is. Trust me you'll be glad you did it."

"No I won't. I can't." Alex insisted.

"Ok, if you're having so much trouble I'll help you. I'll hint at it to her and she'll figure it out."

"Please don't!" Alex begged.

"Why not? She should know, shouldn't she?" Oliver asked, confused.

"No. She can't know. I don't want her to." Alex said imperatively.

"Why don't you?"

"She…she's… she likes this other guy." Alex stammered.

"So… you're her best guy friend ever. She and you go way back… to before you could walk. If you tell her you love her, she'll forget all about that other guy."

"You don't understand. I think they both already have a thing for each other. They might have already kissed. And I don't think she'd wanna know now. If I told her she might hate me forever."

"Well I don't think she'd hate you. But…" Oliver started.

"Please just don't tell her." Alex pleaded.

"Okay I won't. But remember if you ever need to talk about it, I'll be happy to talk to you."

"Thanks. But please don't tell her." Alex said as he made his way to the landing of the stairs.

"Okay, see ya."

"Wow that was awkward." Jackson commented.

"Yeah, a little. But it's a shame he won't tell her. He's such a nice kid. When Rose starts dating, I wish she'd go out with somebody like him."

Lilly decided to see what was going on. "Is there a problem up there?" She shouted up the stairs.

"No…no problem." Oliver shouted back down to her.

"Anyway you were telling me what was wrong with you?" Jackson asked.

"Oh…yeah… I think Lilly might be cheating on me."

"I would say you're wrong, cause you and Lilly are inseparable, but…"

"But what?" Oliver demanded.

"Well I've seen her with this other guy. You know how I've been helping out with summer school at her school? Well I've seen her meeting up with this guy after school for weeks now. She might be cheating with him."

"Shoot… that's what I was afraid of."

"Now don't get ahead of yourself. You might be jumping the gun a little here." Jackson reminded him.

Lilly called up again. "Are you sure there's not a problem? I don't hear anything happening."

"Yeah there's a big problem chica! You've…you….." Buzzzzzzzzzz. Jackson powered up his power saw and started kicking the door to make it sound like they were working on something. He was also affectively drowning out the obscenities he was sure Oliver was spewing at his wife. He stopped after he saw Oliver fall silent.

"Chica?" Jackson asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I took Spanish in high school; it's the only word I remember. That and queso. That means cheese."

"I'm sure there's a better way to figure this out than what you were just doing Oliver."

"Yeah. We'll I guess we'll never know what it is." Oliver said angrily. He shot down the stairs before Jackson could stop him and ran right up to Lilly.

"What's going on?" Lilly asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on. You've been cheating on me and you've been found out! That's what's going on!" Oliver shouted.

"What? No it isn't!" Lilly fired back.

"Yes it is!" Oliver yelled.

"No Oliver! What made you think this anyway?"

"I saw you with this…guy…Mister…Mister…Mister tall dark and…whatever." Oliver said, red in the face. He was mad, but he was also about to burst into tears.

"Ohhh...no. I'm not… he's not. His name is Richard Alpert. He and Miley've been seeing each other for the last couple of weeks. And she wanted me to get to know him… you know, see if he's alright…make sure he's not another Jake Ryan. He's not. He's really a nice guy. Really down to earth, not like Jake at all. He's great for her."

"Wait so you're not cheating on me then?" Oliver asked frantically.

"No. Of course not. I love you Oliver. Only you. I would never do that to you. I never want to be with anybody but you…you're my Ollie…"Lilly was cut off. Oliver kissed her full on the mouth.

"I love you so much Lilly. I knew you weren't. I'm sorry I doubted you."

"I should have told you."

"And I should have trusted you."

"It's okay. We're fine."

"Yeah, you're right. By the way Alex loves Rose." Oliver said in a random fashion.

"Oh wow. How does she feel about that? I bet she's so happy."

"That's the thing, he won't tell her. He's afraid it'll ruin their friendship, cause she likes another guy."

"You mean Ben Linus?" Lilly asked knowingly.

"Yeah I guess. He didn't tell me a name."

"You think we should tell her?" Lilly asked.

"No. He made me promise not to tell. So don't tell her. That wouldn't be good."

"Okay. I guess if he really does love her he'll eventually tell her, right?" Lilly asked.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the eleventh chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**15**__. Rose is __**12 (thirteen by Ch.12)**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**10 (11 by Ch.12)**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	12. Believing in Change

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 12: Believing in Change–**

The second day of tenth grade had gone smoothly so far for Jimmy. He hadn't had time to eat anything for breakfast that morning so he couldn't wait for lunch period. When the bell rang he bolted out of his advanced math class and rushed down the hallway for the stairway that led to the courtyard. He sat down at the first empty table he could find. He pulled out the bag he packed his lunch in from his book bag. He didn't wait for his friends to show up before he started to scarf down his lunch fervently. But before long his best friend Sam showed up with his girlfriend Emily and sat down next to Jimmy.

"J, slow down, it'll last longer." Sam said, laughing slightly. Shortly after Sam sat down Alice arrived. Jimmy didn't look up, he simply continued to eat.

"I missed you too this morning." Alice said sarcastically as she sat down next to him. Jimmy stopped and swallowed what he had in his mouth. He looked at her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Sorry, I didn't get any breakfast this morning." Jimmy apologized.

"But you've been doing that a lot lately. You might not notice it but it's making it so you eat too much at lunch." Alice said.

"I know, you see the way he's eating. Uhh-ghhh." Sam complained.

"It's making you get a little chubby Jimmy, you know?" Alice teased. She reached her hand down and tickled his stomach.

"Nah-ahh." Jimmy said grinning because he was ticklish in his stomach and Alice knew that. So he leaned up against her and put his arm around her back, tickling her other side. Alice giggled and kissed Jimmy on the cheek.

"So what's your next class?" Alice asked.

"English, then my elective, then Social Studies, then home."

"So what's your elective Jimmy?" Sam asked.

"Weightlifting in the weight room."

"What a surprise." Sam said sarcastically.

"Well I like doing it. It helps me with these." He said flexing his already large right bicep muscle. "And this…" He said patting his stomach. "So what's your elective Sam?"

"I'm taking a class to learn speed reading. Maybe that way all those books Mister Fox assigns us won't take me so long. I kinda find it weird he wants us to call him by his first name. So whenever someone calls him Mister Fox he says 'Just call me Joe'." Sam commented.

"Good thinking. I'm just taking a study hall period for an elective. So I guess that's kinda boring compared to your electives." Alice chipped in.

"Still it's a good idea. A little more studying never hurt anybody." Jimmy agreed. Minutes later the bell rang to tell them it was time for their next class.

Jimmy and Sam went into Mister Fox's classroom for their advanced placement English class.

"Today we will be discussing what you read of the epic poem _Beowulf _last night_._ Would anyone like to tell me about the back story between King Hrothgar and the villain Grendel?" Mr. Fox asked. He only received silence from the class.

"Anyone…Anyone… Jim you can tell us right?" Mr. Fox asked Jimmy.

"Sure. Grendel was…" Jimmy began to recall the details of the story and picked them apart the way the teacher wanted him to.

"Very good. That's exactly what I was looking for. You get an 'A' for participation today Mister Oken." Mr. Fox said. Some of the others shot him dirty looks. One guy even coughed 'Nerd!' under his breath. But Jimmy ignored them.

When they finished English class they walked out into the hallway and got ready for the next period.

"I'll see you and Alice later for Social Studies." Sam said.

"Yeah, see ya then. Have fun speed reading." Jimmy said jokingly referring to a kindergarten reading game. They parted ways and Jimmy headed down another hallway towards the locker room which was next to the gymnasium. When he was changed into his undershirt and shorts he headed over to the weight room. There he proceeded to warm up for his workouts. This consisted of stretching and deep breathing to get his blood flowing. When he was finished he walked over to the free weights. He placed weights on either end of the rod. It was a considerable amount of weight. Only a few other people in the room could bench press as much weight as he was about to use.

"I'll spot you." A blond boy, who was slightly shorter than Jimmy and a little stockier, said as he walked up. Spotting someone lifting weights meant standing behind the weight bench so that if the person doing the lifting was unable to lift the weight after a certain number of repetitions, the spotter would lift the weights up into the holder so the lifter wasn't hurt.

"Thanks. I'm tryin' to work on the guns." Jimmy said chuckling.

"Guns?" The boy asked.

"Oh, hah, yeah I heard my dad say that once. I think people his age used to call it that."

"I think you're right. My dad says stuff like that all the time. But at any rate, if you're lifting that much, it looks like it's working. I definitely can't lift that much. Wish I could but I'm not anywhere close to that strong." The boy said.

"Alright well let's get to work here." Jimmy lay down on the bench and the spotter lowered the bar into his hands, with a small level of difficultly.

Jimmy starting lifting the weights up and down, and the boy spotting him counted for him. "One, two, three…twenty three, twenty four...thirty."

"Okay, I think that's all I can do." Jimmy said his face red, his bicep muscles firm from the workout. The boy lifted the weight, with some effort, into the holders.

"Alright let's switch places, okay?" Jimmy asked.

"Right, but I'm gonna hafta take off about thirty pounds. I can't lift that much." The boy said. He proceeded to rearrange the weights so that it equaled thirty pounds less weight than Jimmy had been lifting.

When they were finished Jimmy moved over to a piece of equipment that helped to strengthen the leg muscles. He sat down in it and put his back up against a plate and his feet against the part where the weights were attached. He began pushing the weights upward with his feet. When he was done he got down and wiped himself off with a towel. He then worked out on various other pieces of equipment for the rest of the class. When he was done the teacher pulled him aside. "You where working pretty hard today Oken."

"Yeah, I think I've been putting on a little extra weight." Jimmy told her.

"From the looks of you, I don't think so. But let's find out." She measured his bicep muscle with her measuring tape. "According to your file, your muscle mass is quite a bit greater than it was last year when your PE teacher tested you."

"I'm still a little concerned, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean. You can never be too cautious. Let's get your weight real quick. What was it the last time you checked?" She asked.

"One forty five."

"Okay stand on the scale…One fifty two. That's not bad. I would say you just built up a little more muscle since the last time you weighed yourself. And maybe you're in a rush to eat like a lot of people your age and you grab some of the wrong things. But there's nothing to worry about. Good work today. Hit the locker room." She informed him.

When Jimmy had showered and changed back into his regular clothes he walked out into the hallway. He had ten minutes to get to his Social Studies class. He wasn't in a very big hurry so he walked casually. The blonde boy who had spotted for him with the free weights came up to him and started walking next to him. "Hey man. Great workout in there. I wish I had that kind of commitment."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean, you just looked like you were doing it all with a real purpose. I guess you have to have some kind of motivation to get as strong as you are."

"I guess you're right. I was kinda pushing myself harder today." Jimmy explained.

"I'm guessing you either have a lot of stress to burn off, you have somebody you're trying to impress like your girlfriend, or you just do it to keep in shape." The boy surmised.

"I think you hit the nail right on the head with all three of those. I used to have a lot of, you know anger issues, and I used to be pretty chubby. So, I started working out and running a lot and it's kept me really level headed. And I slimed up a lot. The muscle strength is another good side effect too. I think my girlfriend likes that. I used to get into a lot of fights so it helped then too."

"Yeah, I'll bet." The boy said, not smiling.

"But yeah, it's never really been about looks. I don't really think of myself any differently since I've gotten in better shape. But yeah, my friends, especially my girlfriend have been telling me lately that I'm getting chubby. See…" Jimmy said, lifting up his shirt showing his stomach and then pulling it back down.

"That's nothing man. There's barely any fat there at all. Whatever they think you've put on'll come off real quick, especially the way you work out." The boy said.

"Yeah I think you're right. No big deal. You know you seem familiar. I can't quite place the name. But I know I know you from somewhere. Maybe it's the hospital where I work." Jimmy said with a perplexed look.

"So you're dating Alice Greenwood, right?" The boy said, dodging the question.

"Yeah, she and I have been going out since eighth grade graduation. I know I know you from somewhere." Jimmy insisted.

"Wait how'd you know I was dating Alice?" Jimmy asked because all of a sudden it hit him that he must know this person if he knew things about him.

"It had to do with how you know me. You do by the way… you really don't know who I am?" The boy asked.

"No. That's really weird cause I'm usually really good with faces. I'll figure it out, just gimme a second, I know you, I'm sure of it. What grade are you in?"

"I'm in ninth grade. But I'm gonna be in eleventh next year cause I'm taking catch up stuff this year for tenth grade along with the normal ninth grade classes and then the rest I'll take in summer school. I don't know if that helps any." The boy said.

"It seems like it should. I've kind of got an idea but… You seem really familiar. But you seem different at the same time. This is bad I should know by now. I give up. It's a little embarrassing to ask but…who are you?" Jimmy asked.

"It's me Andy… Andy Corelli."

"Wow. Really. Uhh…" Jimmy said, backing off slightly.

"It's okay if you don't wanna talk to me anymore. I know we don't exactly have a great past. But I'm willing to put it behind us if you are. Again, I'll understand if you don't." Andy said.

"It's nothing like that. I'm not the kind of person to hold a grudge. It's just you look really different. If you hadn't told me I wouldn't have figured it was you. You've lost a lot of weight. That's great man."

"Yeah, I did. Last time I checked it was about sixty pounds I'd lost." Andy told him.

"Wow man. That's awesome. But you seem different… I mean other than the weight thing. You know?"

"Yeah. I haven't had a whole lot of friends lately. To be honest I haven't had a whole lot of them ever. But especially in the last couple of years. So I kinda had to drop the whole 'Fat guy beating kids up and taking their lunches' attitude and start being nicer to people. So far my reputation is working against me. But I'm hoping the whole 'Almost normal size' thing'll work in my favor. You know what I mean? Maybe people'll see me different and I can start off fresh."

"Yeah, I'm willing to forgive and forget. I can't imagine many other people being too stubborn that they won't let things go." Jimmy assured him.

"Well you know, you and I got into all those fights. And I punched you in the face and stuff. But I used to do some pretty crappy things to some of the other kids. So it was kind of a dream come true for a lot of people when I got held back in the eighth grade." Andy admitted.

"But still you've obviously changed, physically and your attitude towards towards other people. So I think you should be alright."

"I hope you're right. There are a lot of people around that'd probably like to take a piece out of me. And believe me I'm glad you're not one of them. Cause to be honest I wouldn't stand a chance. I'm mean even though I'm in way better shape than I was. You're still way stronger than me." Andy said honestly.

"Don't worry about that. Those days are over. I think if you wanted we might eventually be able to be friends." Jimmy said. He was the kind of person that was willing to give anyone a chance.

"That's nice to hear you say that. Let's hope some other people might feel the same way. If not, oh well, I guess I'll get along alright." Andy said hopefully.

"Okay, I'm sure you'll be fine. Maybe I'll see you later." Jimmy suggested.

They parted ways for their final period classes. Jimmy was still puzzled, at how much his former 'Arch-Enemy' Andy had changed, when Alice and Sam caught up to him just outside of their Social Studies classroom.

"Who was that you where talking to J?" Sam asked.

"I'll tell you guys later. What do you think Mrs. Benson will do today?"

"You mean do you think she blow her top again today, if those guys in the back keep messaging on their cell phones?" Sam snickered.

"Yeah, that was pretty funny, I guess." Jimmy said without smiling. It had been funnier to Sam than it had been to Jimmy. Jimmy seemed to have a slightly more mature sense of humor than Sam did.

"Yeah, the way she threw her attendance pad at them and the screen cracked against the wall. Good stuff!" Sam said smiling giddily.

"Yeah, really funny." Jimmy said sarcastically.

"Well at least one of you is a grown up here." Alice commented. When they got into class they sat down together and opened there books to the chapter the teacher was covering on the Civil War.

"Who can tell us about the chapter I assigned last night? How about you Miss Greenwood?" Mrs. Benson asked Alice.

"Well the north was…" Alice went on about the assigned chapter.

"Yes that's all great. But what was the battle at Bull Run really about?" Mrs. Benson asked. A boy in the middle of the classroom raised his hand and answered.

When the class was over they filed out together and started walking home. "So you guys really think I'm getting chubby?" Jimmy asked.

"Maybe a little." Sam smirked.

"Well I mean look, does that look chubby to you?" Jimmy asked lifting up his shirt showing his stomach. Alice took the opportunity to tickle him. He in turn reached over both of his hands and tickled her sides, over her shirt, from top the top of her stomach to the bottom. She giggled and they kissed a little.

"No you're not getting chubby. We were just giving you a hard time." Alice said smiling up at him.

"Now, who was it you where talking to on the way to class?" Sam asked.

"You're never gonna believe this." Jimmy warned them.

"Try us!" Alice challenged.

"Okay," He said clasping his hand into hers, "It was Andy Corelli."

"You're kidding, he looks way different. Are you sure that was him?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Pretty sure. I don't think he was lying."

"Well what did he want then?" Sam asked matter-of-factly.

"He's in my weight training elective and he wanted to catch up with me."

"So when you said 'catch up' I take it you don't mean slug it out for old time's sake?" Alice asked, unsure.

"No, he seems like he's changed a lot."

"Well yeah, he's not a fat…never mind." Sam censored himself.

"Yeah, he's changed a lot. He doesn't seem like he wants to be like he used to, he just wants people to like him now."

"Yeah, like him so he can trick them and take their lunch or something." Sam put in.

"Would you cut that out Sam?" Jimmy snapped.

"I'm just saying, be careful. He might be up to something." Sam warned.

"I don't think so. I think he's really changed. I think he just wants to make peace and leave things in the past."

"Okay. Since you're willing to let it all go, I guess I will too. But if I'm at lunch one day and I open up my lunch and there's nothing in the bag…I'll know where it went." Sam stated.

"Please! I don't think he's even up to his old tricks anymore. You're only a little thinner than he is now." Jimmy said. He jokingly started to pat Sam on the stomach.

"Hey! And you're saying you're thinner than him too?" Sam asked, frantically.

"Of course _I_ am. I work out and run all the time. I'm thinner than you too. Didn't used to be but I am now."

"You weigh more than me. You're what fifteen pounds heavier than me?" Sam asked incredibly defensively.

"Yeah, but muscle weighs four times what fat weighs, and I'm a lot stronger than you, and a little thinner too. Just a little." Jimmy said in a comforting tone.

"Yeah okay." He and Jimmy started to fake punch each other in the shoulders, pretending they where ending an argument.

"You guys are such boys!" Alice scoffed.

"Then why date me?" Jimmy asked coolly.

"I never said there was anything wrong with boys. I just meant you're acting like boys."

"Oh…I…see…how…it…is…" Jimmy said, pretending to cry.

"Very nice!" Alice said, slugging him in the right arm.

"Owe! Now you're trying to hurt me!" He said cradling his arm. "Make her stop!" He said to Sam.

"Ha ha. Very funny!" Alice laughed. "Here I'll kiss it better." Alice said leaning in and kissing his arm.

"That's better…I guess." Jimmy said. But he couldn't keep it up any longer, so he let out a silly laugh.

It had been a nice day at school for Charlie Hartman. It wasn't that much different from any other day of school for him. But since he had recently recovered from cancer, he had learned to look at everything in the most positive light possible. That way he could make it through even the worst of days and still feel good inside. The result was that he almost never had bad days, even if things didn't necessarily go his way. It had made him an extremely likeable person. He could light up a room with his personality alone. His smile was effortless and overpowering. He was so unassuming and sweet that people could almost taste it. He was walking home with his new friends from Sea View Middle School when three people walked in front of them and blocked their path. They where high school kids that none of them knew well. Two where average in height, but slightly stocky boys, and their ring leader was a tall, husky and irate looking girl who seemed as though she could pick one of them up with only one arm. There was no avoiding it, Charlie's wonderfully pleasant day had just turned bad.

"This is gonna be fun." The girl said. Her name they had learned was Penelope Gruber.

"Judd grab the hick with the long hair." Penelope commanded the boy to her right. He did as he was told, latching onto Robbie's arms, holding them behind his back.

"Hands off hoss! You don't know who you're messin' with!" Robbie shouted.

"Hah! Calm down and you won't get hurt farm boy." Judd cautioned.

"I'm not a farm boy. I'm country." Robbie squirmed.

"You're dad is barely country Robbie." Susan reminded him.

"I doesn't matter! Just be quiet!" Penelope shouted.

"Who do you think you are?" Susan demanded.

"Susan, you know, maybe you shouldn't say anything to make them mad." Charlie suggested.

"Hey! Who asked you tiny?" The other boy shouted.

"Wait Jason, I think we got something here." Penelope said looking Charlie up and down.

"You got the right idea kid. You should keep your mouth shut. You're pretty cute. But you're way too skinny. Eat something! And those eyebrows make you look really weird. They're freakin' me out." Penelope bellowed in his face, spraying spit. Charlie took a second to think about what had just been said to him. He was rather thin; he was slightly smaller in build compared to the average kid his age. And as for his eyebrows, for some strange reason since he had finished his cancer treatment, they had been growing back very slowly. So they did look very thinned.

Charlie made the mistake of looking down at the sidewalk. "Don't look away when I'm talking to you tiny!" Penelope shouted. And in one swift, fluid motion she strode up to him and slammed her fist straight into his stomach. Due to a combination of both reflexes and intense pain Charlie bent over and clutched his stomach tightly. The blow had winded him badly; he couldn't breathe for several seconds which seemed like an eternity to him. He then began to choke down whatever air he could get into his aching lungs. He staggered to remain standing. A single tear made its way down his cheek. He felt a severe pain in his stomach that was both stabbing and throbbing at the same time.

"What is wrong with you?" Susan demanded. She was rocked by a sudden and inexplicable impulse to come to Charlie's defense. She bolted up to Penelope and threw all of her weight against her, slamming her into a fence post. Penelope looked down at her angrily.

"Bad mistake." Penelope said simply, her voice sounding gravelly. She grabbed Susan by the tops of her shoulders and threw her with all her might across the sidewalk. She slammed backwards into Michael who had been preparing to take his own punishment for what none of them knew. He was knocked off of his feet and landed on his back. He hit his head on the fence behind him causing him to bite his lower lip, blood ran down his very pointed chin. Robbie ran up, trying to keep Penelope at bay. But before he could get to her, Jason tackled him from the side. Robbie landed on his back managing not to hit his head, but his pant leg tore as he skidded onto the cement.

"You know what? I like that hat tiny." Judd decided. He was referring to the blue and white striped beanie ski cap Charlie was wearing. He had been wearing it the first day in the hospital where Michael had met him. To their knowledge Charlie always wore it no matter what, except for when they were in school of course. When he had worn it in the hospital it may have been to cover up the fact that he had no hair underneath. Now his shiny jet-black hair showed through at the bottom where it wasn't covered. Needless to say Charlie was very attached to the cap. So when Judd yanked it off of his head and put it on, Charlie was very distressed, grabbing at his head as if to will the cap back. Susan had just managed to pick herself up of the cement and regain her composure when Penelope grabbed her by the top of the shirt preparing to throw her to the ground once more. But she didn't get the chance.

"What is going on?" A voice shouted. It was a familiar voice. Not a parents voice, but a familiar one nonetheless. Penelope looked to see who it was that had interrupted her sport. When she saw who it was she immediately released her hold on Susan.

"What d' you want?" Penelope demanded.

"I want you to leave my brother and his friends alone." Jimmy demanded.

"And who's gonna make us?" Jason, the bigger and probably the dumber of the boys, inquired. This was not to say that Penelope was particularly smart. She was not.

"Funny it kinda looks like me. The real question is: 'If you lay another hand on them who's gonna stop me'?" Jimmy asked ominously.

"You got some nerve kid!" Jason barked stupidly.

"Jason, shut up. He could probably take all three of us by himself." Judd said out of the side of his mouth through gritted teeth. Jason took a step back and got a better look at Jimmy.

"Forget this Pen, it ain't worth it." Jason said, fear entering his voice.

"That's what I thought." Jimmy said confidently. Taking this as a challenge Judd foolishly lunged forward at Jimmy, stopping on a dime, realizing quickly the futility of what he was about to try. But it was too late. Jimmy grabbed him at the tops of his shoulders, putting so much pressure on him that he couldn't break free. "If any of you EVER mess with my brother or any of his friends again, I'll…well I'll get creative." Jimmy said flashing the three of them a threatening look.

"You got it man." Judd said writhing in pain. The other two nodded.

"And you better hope he's alright." Jimmy said gesturing at Charlie.

"Oh and give me that cap, it belongs to him." Jimmy said. Judd pulled off the cap and handed it over to Jimmy without a word. Jimmy shook it off and handed it back to Charlie who promptly pulled it back onto his head like a precious piece of his own soul being put back in its place.

"What're you guys still doing here?" Jimmy roared. They stood there stiff as statues so Jimmy made a twitch forward at them which sent all three of them running off down the sidewalk.

When the three bullies were out of sight Jimmy spoke again. "Are you guys alright?" He asked. They all nodded less than convincingly. "Susan, you've got some cuts on your arm you need to clean out as soon as you get home." Jimmy told her. Susan held up her left arm and looked at the gruesome scrapes that where now present on either side. She touched one and cringed, sucking air in through her teeth. "Don't touch it, it'll just make it worse. Remember clean it out with disinfectant as soon as you get home."

"But that stuff stings really bad. And I'd know." Susan protested.

"Trust me it's worth a few seconds of discomfort. You don't want that getting infected. Cause then you'll have to go to the doctor and get shots. Then you have to think of what's worse: getting shots or explaining to your mom that you could've just cleaned it up."

"That's true; she would be pretty crazy about it. I think you're right." Susan agreed.

"I'm okay." Robbie chimed in.

"Good. Michael you might need to get a couple of stitches on your lip. Other than that are you okay?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I don't know about Charlie though. That girl nailed him in the stomach really hard."

"Charlie, lemme see where she got you." Jimmy said. Charlie who was still in pain, his eyes glazed over with tears, said nothing as he lifted up his shirt. Along with an exceptionally thin stomach, not quite to the point of being unhealthy, ribs that showed through slightly, there was an enormous space of dark red centered in the middle of his otherwise honey-brown stomach.

"You can put your shirt down now. But that's definitely gonna bruise. You might not wanna do a lot of bending over cause the bruised muscle tissue will hurt really bad when you do. You might see stars if you try bending over. So try putting things where you can reach them without bending over. And if you have to, try to get somebody else to help you. And good thing you're wearing flip flops cause trying to put shoes on might make you vomit." Jimmy instructed him.

"We'll all help you with that." Michael assured him.

"Thanks." Charlie said cracking a smile, his tears beginning to dry up. They all got there book bags up off the sidewalk. When Charlie bent over to pick his up he doubled up in pain once more.

"Here lemme get that for you." Robbie said pulling Charlie's book bag up off the cement and handing it to him.

"Thanks." Charlie said again.

As they walked home Jimmy spoke to Michael and his friends. "If those kids…or any kids for that matter, ever give you any trouble…you just tell me and I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Jimmy." Michael said.

"What're big brothers for, huh?" Jimmy smiled.

"…Or you could just tell their parents you know." Alice put forward.

"You want me to tell their mommies on them?" Jimmy asked.

"Well it's better than reverting to your old self and doing things the old fashioned way."

"Well… I wasn't really gonna hit them. But look what they did. I think they'd deserve it if I did. But really if they ever mess with my brother…or his friends, I'd hafta do something." Jimmy said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah I guess so." Alice shrugged.

They stopped at a quick medical care place on the way home where Michael got two stitches on his lower lip, they cleaned out Susan's cuts and bandaged them, and they gave Charlie an ice pack. When they got out Susan and Robbie went home but Jimmy and Michael walked Charlie home.

"Now, Charlie that'll probably take a few weeks before it's stopped hurting, so you're gonna hafta be careful." Jimmy told him.

"I will. I promise. But I'll be fine. It won't be that bad." Charlie said, a hint of a smile.

"Man you bounce back quickly." Michael exclaimed. Charlie smiled and went inside. Michael and Jimmy stayed for a few minutes to explain to Charlie's parents what had happened. They were very grateful to Jimmy for all the help he had been towards Charlie.

When they got home their mother noticed the stitches on Michael's lip immediately. "Oliver get in here quick. Michael's got stitches on his lip." Lilly shouted into another room. Oliver ran into the room, a look of concern wiping over his face instantly.

"What happened?" Oliver asked.

"We were walking home from school and…and." Michael stopped, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Jimmy chimed in.

"They were walking home from school and these three ninth graders…never met them, maybe from a different school… jumped Michael and his friends." Jimmy informed them.

"What do you mean 'jumped' them?" Lilly asked firmly.

"Well this one girl…probably the leader, shoved Susan Stewart down a couple of times, and Michael got knocked over with her and split his lip when he hit the ground." Jimmy drew them a picture with words.

"Anything else?" Oliver asked.

"Well Robbie tore his pant leg. I think he's okay. And Michael's new friend Charlie…" Jimmy stopped and looked to Michael.

"Hartman." Michael told him.

"Right, Michael's new friend Charlie Hartman. The girl punched him pretty hard in the stomach. He's gonna be bruised pretty bad for a couple of weeks. I feel really bad for him after all he's been through…just getting beat up randomly. Any way I took care of those kids." Jimmy finished his account.

"What do you mean 'I took care of them'? I only ask because of your past history with Andy Corelli." Lilly stated.

"It wasn't anything like that. I just told them to stay away. That's all…I promise. Oh, and speaking of Andy. I saw him at school today...turns out he's actually not so bad after all."

"That's great. But Michael, you're gonna tell us these kids names so I can call their parents and have a word or two with them." Lilly stated in no uncertain terms.

"But mom…" Michael protested.

"No 'buts', just tell me." Lilly demanded.

"Fine it was Penelope Gruber, Jason Vance, and Judd Weller." Michael told her reluctantly.

"Good. I'll call their parents. But first I want to know: is this the first time they've done this to you?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah." Michael answered.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.

"I'm sure." Michael insisted.

"So they just all of a sudden decided to come out of nowhere and beat up you and your friends?" Oliver asked doubtfully.

"No, but this is the first time they ever hit us or anything."

"So what have they done before?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing much. They come around and yell at us and say stupid stuff to us. No biggie."

"So that's it?"

"Well no. There was this one time we got to the field early for baseball practice this summer and they came onto the field and started yelling and throwing things at us. But the coach got there and made them leave." Michael said.

"Okay, well I'm glad I've got the whole picture now. Their parents will love to hear about all this I'm sure." Lilly said sternly.

"Just remember little bro, tell me if they ever mess with you again." Jimmy reminded him. He was very defensive of his little brother, especially after this incident.

"Okay, I will." Michael said. Much to their good fortune Michael and his friends would never hear from Penelope and her cronies again. They had decided that it was not worth the risk they would be taking to run into Jimmy again.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go up to my room and do my homework." Michael said. He hopped off the couch, collected his book bag, and went up the stairs. Rose passed him on the way down. When she got into the living room she stopped in front of Jimmy, and her mother and father.

"Hey, can I talk to you and Jimmy?" She asked her father.

"Sure, what's this about?" Oliver asked.

"And why don't you wanna talk to me about it?" Lilly asked bemused.

"Well it's about boys. So I figured I'd talk to two boys about it. Jimmy cause he was my age two years ago and dad cause… well he's a guy too." Rose said, a little embarrassed at what she was about to talk about.

"Okay, that's fine. I need to catch up on grading some tests and quizzes anyway." Lilly said, walking off into another room.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" Oliver asked.

"Well I could talk about this boy Ben that I like." Rose said.

"Uh-uh. We already had this discussion. Nothing about how cute you think a boy is." Jimmy insisted.

"Thanks. Fine, it wasn't about him anyway." Rose put in.

"Well then what is it about?" Oliver asked.

"It's about Alex." Rose said. A mental _'uh-oh' _went off in both Jimmy and Oliver's heads because they both knew the truth behind Alex's erratic behavior but they were both bound by a promise to him not to share any of it with her.

"Uhh…what about him?" Jimmy asked.

"He's been acting kinda weird around me lately." Rose told them.

"What kind of weird? Fart jokes weird? Sick weird? Moody weird?" Oliver guessed.

"Like… _boy_ weird if you know what I mean." Rose said.

"All boys act weird around girls at that age. It doesn't matter who they are. It just happens." Oliver said. Rose didn't say anything.

"It's true. It's just the way we are. Remember it doesn't make him stupid. It just makes him normal." Jimmy said constructively.

"Yeah I know. I could never think he's stupid. But he's my best friend."

"Doesn't matter, he's thirteen and he's a boy." Oliver said.

"You don't think he _likes _me do you?" Rose said, disbelieving.

"Who knows?" Jimmy shrugged.

"Nahh, he doesn't. No way. We've known each other too long. I'd be able to tell. It must be something else." Rose concluded.

"Yeah must be." Oliver said. With great effort he disguised the fact that he was hiding something.

"You're probably right." Jimmy said. He was much better at hiding any facial expressions, basically he looked normal, there was no way to tell he was holding something in.

"Yeah, silly thing to say or even think. Forget I said it." Rose told them.

"Said what?" Jimmy said as he made his way to the staircase. He was leaving to make absolutely certain that there was no chance of him revealing something.

"Yeah, good talk…I gotta go do…stuff." Oliver said slightly awkwardly. If Rose was more suspicious she would have picked up on how nervous her father was acting and suspected that he might be hiding something.

The next day Jimmy had managed to eat a decent amount of food for breakfast. So he wasn't in as anxious a mood for lunch period to arrive as he had been the day before. As a result he met up with Sam and Alice and Emily and walked down to the courtyard with them.

"I see you're not in the mood for food like yesterday." Sam joked.

"No I am. Just in the normal way though." Jimmy corrected.

"Speaking of people with big appetites…" Sam said looking over Jimmy's shoulders. Jimmy looked to see who it was.

"Oh. Hey Andy over here!" Jimmy shouted to him. Andy slowly moved over to the table.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Andy asked, unsure.

"What do you say guys?" Jimmy asked. He had always kind of been the one with the most influence of the three of them.

"Sure, why not?" Alice said. She was agreeing partly just to support her boyfriend.

"What's the harm?" Sam said. In his head he was thinking of a million reasons why not but he was going along with his best friends. Andy sat down on the opposite side of Jimmy from where Alice was sitting.

"Wow, a sandwich, some juice, and a banana. Not a lot to eat, eh Andy?" Sam commented.

"Yeah, ever since I lost the weight, I've been trying to keep up good habits. Especially with eating. I still get tempted all the time. But I'm getting better at ignoring it." Andy replied.

"So are you saying we shouldn't bring snacks with our lunch so we don't tempt you?" Sam asked.

Andy looked a little taken aback. "No, it's not like that…anymore. I'm not gonna do like I used to and steal your food when you're not looking."

"Or even when we are looking?" Sam added.

"Yeah, I've changed. I hope someday you'll believe me Sam." Andy said.

"I believe you. I'm just a little bad at forgetting how it used to be. So I'm being a little sarcastic. But it'll go away, if you're really different." Sam told him.

"Well just look at him, he's obviously different." Emily said.

"I know. It's almost hard to believe it's actually you Andy. I'm mean you used to be so…" Sam trailed off.

"Fat. Yeah. Well not anymore, and hopefully never again. Same goes for the all the trash I used to do to people." Andy stated.

"Well yeah, okay. I'm willing to believe you've changed. Just don't let us down, okay?" Sam asked.

"I won't. Like I told Jimmy, I don't have a lot of friends…really any. So if I can turn old enemies into friends…well that'd be great. But I understand if you don't want the same thing. I was a jerk. I know it. Maybe it's too little too late." Andy said.

"We'll see. I think we can all move on." Sam said.

"See, Andy, I told you they'd see it the same way I do." Jimmy jumped in.

"You're lucky you have friends like this. I never did. You guys are a lot cooler than I used to think you where." Andy told them.

"Well thanks. If you're really as 'changed' as you seem then I think you can be our friend." Jimmy told him.

"Great. Oh, there's the bell. Gotta go." Andy said, getting up to leave.

As they walked towards their next class which they all had together that day Jimmy said "That's good…I believe he's changed. So we're gonna give him a chance, right?"

"Yeah I don't like to hold a grudge." Sam said.

"Cool with me."Alice chimed in.

"Yeah, I guess we can all change if we really want to. I mean a couple years ago you would've knocked those kids into next week for messing with your brother. And Andy wouldn't have fit on that bench next to you. So I guess I'm all for believing in change." Sam said. Jimmy was never particularly violent. The only instances of violent behavior he had ever displayed were during the times he had been in fights in middle school. And that amounted to four in total. But he had since left behind the reputation for being hot headed and quick to overreact. Times had changed and Jimmy and his friends were willing to leave it at that.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the twelfth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**15**__. Rose is __**13**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**11**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	13. How Do I Live Without You?

_* I hope you like this! Please leave reviews!_

_*In this chapter Jimmy is now 15 ½, Rose 13 ½, Michael 11 ½._

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 13: How Do I Live Without You?–**

Jimmy's day had been going smoothly and without incident so far. He was jogging home from track practice when Alice caught up with him. It was a cold Tuesday in January and they were both eager to get warm.

"So how was practice?" Alice asked.

"Cold. Seemed like forever."

"Well don't get that attitude. You still like running track don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not that. It's freezing out, so if it weren't for the running I'd be an icicle. They don't even let us wear a sweat shirt. It's the sleeveless track shirt and sweat pants till February then we switch to shorts."

"That's rough. But you keep doing it. How come?"

"Cause I love doing it. That's how come. Cause every year I know it's gonna be freezing for the first month or so. But it gets warm in a hurry." Jimmy said, his teeth chattering.

"You know you put yourself through a lot of hard stuff cause you just wanna do it." Alice said, starting to shiver too.

"Hard stuff? Like what?" Jimmy asked.

"Like track in thirty degree weather. And dealing with your diabetes, and sometimes your brother's too. And making sure you keep up with me."

"First of all I love running. It doesn't matter how bad the weather is. I just like to get out there and run. And I have the whole diabetes thing under control. And so does Michael for the most part. He hardly ever has to get reminded to do things like take insulin. I mean he still hasn't managed to gain any weight back after his diabetic attack last year. But he's fine. And as for keeping up with you…I really don't know what that's supposed to mean. I never think of being your boyfriend as some kind of a burden to keep up with. I always thought it was more the other way around."

"And what's that supposed to mean? Huh?" Alice asked, teasingly.

"Well… I mean. At eight grade graduation we decided to start dating. Then three short months later you find out I'm not as tough as you thought I was. And it's gotta still be in the back of your head that I might become that guy that throws down with other guys so easily. I mean…you know after the way I reacted when Michael and his friends got beat up by those ninth graders." Jimmy explained.

"Okay, well none of the diabetes stuff is your fault. I could never, in good conscience, treat that as something you did to me. That would be horrible. I wouldn't deserve to be your girlfriend if I acted that way. But you've always been the tough one. You didn't let having diabetes change that. If anything it made you even tougher." Alice said, thumping her fist against his goose bump-covered bicep.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks."

"But the truth is I'm glad your 'fighting days' are over. Cause if you got into another fight…well I don't think I liked that part of you… I'm glad it's gone." Alice said.

"Yeah, me too." Jimmy agreed.

They were standing outside Jimmy's house when they shared short kiss and a warm hug. "Ohh…you're getting cold, let's get inside before we both freeze." Jimmy said.

They walked inside and took off their jackets. Jimmy went upstairs to change into normal clothes. Alice sat on the couch finding herself wishing he would leave his track shirt on cause she liked how his muscles looked. While Jimmy was changing he was thinking about how cute Alice looked wearing her jacket and scarf with her lips a dark color from the bitter cold air. When Jimmy got back down he and Alice sat next to each other and leaned up against one another. They cracked open their English books and took turns reading the assigned passages that where due the next day. Before long Rose popped in through the front door and pulled off her jacket and put it in the closet.

"Hey Alice, I need your advice on something." Rose said.

"Yeah what is it?" Alice asked.

"And why can't I give you advice? I am your big brother after all." Jimmy complained sarcastically.

"Cause you never wanted to talk to me about this before. Plus it's girl stuff and you're a boy, so you won't understand." Rose said, pretending she was nine again and thought boys had 'cooties'.

"Yeah, girl talk…you won't understand." Alice said, turning her head and winking at Jimmy as she walked over to the table just off of the kitchen space. "So what's up? Is it a boy?"

"How'd you know?" Rose asked, taken aback.

"You're thirteen, what else could it be?" Alice asked.

"True. You're really smart." Rose said.

"You're right I am. But I was your age two years ago, so I know what it's like to be into a boy." Alice said.

"Yeah, but that was _Jimmy…_he's not a boy." Rose said crinkling her lightly freckled nose.

"He's your brother. So this might be hard for you to hear, but he is hot… And smart and nice." Alice said trying to keep quiet, but apparently her voice had carried.

"So are you Alice. You're hotter than the sun…wow that was cheesy." Jimmy shouted over to Alice.

"Quit eavesdropping you!" Alice said, turning her focus back to Rose.

"You're right that is hard to hear. Can we try not to go there again?" Rose suggested.

"Sure thing. So what's going on?" Alice asked.

"Well I like this boy and I want him to know it. My parents are gonna let me start dating next school year so…"

"So you wanna know how to talk to him and get him to be into you. That's gonna be hard at your age if you don't have an edge like Jimmy and I did. We knew each other for a long time and it was really natural. Ooops…sorry about that." Alice appologized.

"It's alright. I just meant try not to talk about how he looks and stuff…weird." Rose cringed.

"Okay. Well wait… you've known him forever so you should be pretty familiar with him. It shouldn't be that hard when the time comes." Alice stated.

"I wouldn't say I've known him that long. He only moved here from LA three or four years ago." Rose said, a confused crinkle returning between her eyebrows.

"Ohh…you meant…"

"Ben…Ben Linus. He's really cute and he's cool too. I want to ask him out when we get to high school next fall. But I want him to know I'm interested so he's not taken when the time comes… wait who were you thinking of?" Rose asked as the thought dawned on her.

"Ben… I was just thinking of somebody else I know that knew a guy really long. Sorry. I meant Ben." Alice covered herself. She was not about to reveal what Jimmy had told her in confidence, that Rose's best friend Alex was almost certainly in love with her. She didn't want to be the one that delivered that news.

"Well when the time comes, if he knows you're interested in him. He'll ask you." Alice told her.

"You think?"

"Yeah, it'll work. You just have to make sure he likes you and then he'll ask you cause he'll want to too."

"So how do I get him to like me?" Rose asked.

"Easy. You just talk to him a lot. Get to know him better. Find out what you have in common. Try doing things with him at school, like working on assignments and stuff. He'll like being with you and want it to keep happening. Just be yourself too. Don't pretend. That's the worst. He'll eventually figure out you're a lot more normal than you lead on if you try to be different to get his attention. But you won't have to do that. You're plenty interesting the way you are."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot. I hope you're right. I hope it works."

"Trust me. He'll be yours in no time." Alice assured her. She made her way back over to Jimmy and sat down up against him again.

"Your sister's really cool, you know?" Alice complimented.

"Yeah, she is. Don't tell her I said that. I'd never live it down." Jimmy warned.

"So what've we got to do for the homework?" Alice asked.

"I think I have it figured out. The main character has a superiority complex that will be his downfall." Jimmy said. They worked on homework for the next hour until right before Michael got home.

"I'm not staying around too long. I'm gonna go over to Susan's. We're all gonna do homework together and stuff. I'll be back after dinner." Michael said to anyone listening.

"Okay, I'll tell mom and dad." Jimmy said. Michael ran up to his room, grabbed something and went shooting back out the front door.

"Wow Michael really has a lot of energy." Alice admired.

"Yeah, I know it's been a while but I'm glad he can walk again. I can't imagine how it would've been for him if the wheelchair'd been permanent." Jimmy remarked.

"Yeah, he's such a happy kid. Not the kind of kid that would've done well like that. But then who would?" Alice commented.

"Well I'm gonna take my insulin now. Gotta eat in a few hours."

"Yeah, I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow." Alice told him.

"Not if I see you first." Jimmy said, being cute.

"Cheesy." Alice said smiling as she kissed him lightly on the cheek.

The next day was no more eventful than the previous. That was until Jimmy and Alice where walking home together. They got about halfway there when a suspicious looking man stepped in front of them and blocked their path. They both stood there for several seconds hoping he would leave them alone. But there was no such luck for them this time.

"Gimme all yur money boy." The man growled.

"No." Jimmy said flat out.

"Trust me you better give it to me boy." The man warned.

"Why should I?" Jimmy said, imagining that he might regret asking the question.

"I got ten reasons right here." The man said, raising his fists.

"Come on, I don't want any trouble. Just leave me alone." Jimmy replied, wishing the man would just go away.

"I'll make it real easy for ya' gimme all your money and you won't get any trouble."

"I don't think so." Jimmy said, not fazed by the man's threats.

"Well that's just too bad for you then." The man threw a punch, but Jimmy had seen it coming. He ducked under the punch. The man's fist slammed into the brick wall behind Jimmy. "Ahhhhh, gahhhhh!" The man screamed out. The bones in his fingers broken with the impact, blood seeped from his knuckles. But he didn't want to back down. He drew back his other fist to try to hit Jimmy again. But Jimmy was too quick for him. He had moved in behind the man and used his right leg to knock him off his feet. He landed on his back and uttered some unintelligible curse words. For good measure Jimmy moved quickly on his feet.

"Let's get outta here, quick." Jimmy said, his voice shaking. He and Alice took off running and didn't stop until they got to Jimmy's house. Alice was slightly out of breath. But due to his extreme good health Jimmy wasn't nearly as winded from the run.

"Wow that was scary." Jimmy said, breathing heavily. Alice just looked up at him with a shocked look on her face. "Oh, come here." He put his arms around her and hugged her to his chest. "It's okay. We're fine. That's never happened before…good thing is…probably never will again."

"I hope you're right. You where great though." Alice said in a hushed voice.

"You think so? So that doesn't count as me fighting, right?"

"No, not really. You couldn't avoid that." Alice agreed.

"Just so you know. I would never let anything happen to you. But to tell the truth that guy wasn't any big deal. If he'd come at you, you'd probably've been able to handle him."

"But I had you so I didn't have to." Alice said smiling up at Jimmy; she put her hand around the back of his head and kissed him on the lips. When they broke apart they went inside and did their homework and tried to forget the close call they had just met with.

Alex Rhodes walked down the halls of Sea View Middle school with his best friend Rose. They were mostly talking about how they were going skateboarding after school. Rose told him "So I figured we'd go to the usual place just off the pier."

"Sounds like a good idea. I just fixed that wheel on my board so I've been waiting to try it out; I mean really put it to the test." Alex said. He was having a good time talking to her. Anything that didn't remind him of his feelings for her was a good conversation for him. Even if they were just talking about something boring like the weather. But as soon as he finished that thought the conversation shifted to another subject. It was like he was being punished for something he didn't do or didn't mean to do.

"You know I really like Ben?"

"Yeah, I know." Alex said, less that enthusiastically.

"Maybe this summer or next school year, I might ask him out."

"That's your call." Alex uttered.

"Of course it is. Is something bothering you? You seem like you're really out of it right now."

"Nope. No problem." Alex said quickly.

"Well anyway, I need to let him know I'm interested in him. You know, win him over. Got any ideas?" Rose asked.

"This might come as a shock to you. But I don't know anything about getting a guy to like me." Alex said sarcastically.

"Sorry. You don't have to get smarmy."

"… 'Smarmy', now there's a word for ya." Alex retorted.

"Yeah, I don't know where that came from. Hah." Rose said. The both laughed a little. It was pleasing to Alex because he figured they were off the subject of Rose winning over Ben Linus.

"Well I guess I'll just have to play it by ear." Rose concluded.

When they got to the Oken house they finished their homework quickly and then grabbed their skateboards and raced down to the sidewalks that where just off of the pier. It was going well at first. They both impressed each other with the moves they were able to perform. But soon enough Alex noticed how cute Rose looked when she tucked her knees to flip her board. And then thoughts, of how funny she was and how sweet her laugh was, entered his mind. He couldn't help but think of how she was never too nice to him and it always seemed she was kind to him no matter what her mood was. All these thoughts caused him to lose his balance. He fell to the ground and scraped his knee.

Rose called over to him. "You okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine. I just lost my footing." Alex replied. He stood back up and regained his composure. But the truth was he wasn't fine. The sudden jolt of pain in his leg was enough to bring on a sudden jolt of pain in his heart. Thoughts of Rose falling for Ben Linus flooded into his mind, he was powerless to stop it. In fact just seeing Rose at the moment made him feel short of breath. He stumbled around pretending to be dizzy so he could make an excuse to leave.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Rose asked.

"Actually I do feel a little weird. You mind if I go home?"

"No, no problem. Want me to walk with you?" Rose suggested.

"No, I'll be fine." Alex insisted.

"Okay, if you say so. See ya tomorrow." Rose shouted to him.

"See ya." Alex murmured.

But he didn't go home. As soon as he was out of her line of sight he headed for the beach. And then looped back around and made his way under the peer. He slumped down against one of the support polls. Unbeknownst to him this was very near to the place where Rose's older brother had kissed his future girlfriend for the first time when he was twelve.

He let a single tear run down his cheek. For no matter how hard he tried to hold his feelings in he couldn't help but let them overpower him every once in a while. And this was one of those times. He sat there with his head buried in his knees breathing deeply as he cried lightly into his pant legs. It was cold out but he didn't care. He didn't care about much if anything at this point. He didn't even seem to notice the wind whisping around him as the waves crashed onto the shoreline.

But after a while he sensed a presence which caused him to sit straight up in a heartbeat. He came crashing back down to reality. The hostile cold wind made him shake and shudder.

"Are you alright?" Asked a voice, a girl's voice. It sounded familiar. But Alex couldn't place the person with the voice. But that quickly changed as the girl stepped into the light and pulled down the hood of her jacket. It was Kristin Bauer. "How come every time I see you alone, you're upset about something?"

"I dunno." Alex said in a shivery voice, his teeth knocking together.

"It wouldn't happen to be the same thing as last time would it?" Kristen guessed cleverly.

"Yeah, it is. How'd you know?" Alex asked, huffing out visible puffs of breath, due to the cold.

"Lucky guess maybe." Kristen said with a slight smile.

"Is it that obvious?" Alex asked shamefully.

"It is to me. But if it makes you feel any better I don't think anybody else can tell. You do a pretty good job of hiding it. I can only tell cause you told me before." Kristen said in a slightly patronizing tone.

"Thanks. But for some reason I _don't_ feel better." Alex said having read her tone.

"Well I know what _will_ make you feel better." Kristen told him.

"What?" Alex asked desperately.

"Go home and get into some warm clothes." Kristen said. It sounded really good to Alex at the moment, but not quite what he was expecting.

"Sound like a great idea. There's just one problem." Alex murmured through his cold gritted teeth.

"And what would that be?" Kristen asked.

"I can't move my legs. I've been sitting here so long in the cold. They're frozen stiff." Alex said quietly.

"Here, I'll help you up." Kristen said. She put out her hands and clasped them around his arms. She hoisted him up with a little difficulty. When she managed to get him to his feet their faces were only about an inch apart. Feeling uncomfortable, Alex managed to limp around her and make his way off the beach, heading for home. Kristen smiled at the sight of him walking away.

The next week was very uneventful for Jimmy until Friday rolled around. Alice had stayed after to tutor a group of ninth graders for their English class. So Jimmy was walking home with Sam and Andy when two other tenth graders approached them from behind.

"Hey Corelli! It's time to settle things once and for all!" Kurt Martin yelled. He was accompanied by his crony Mark Smith.

"Not in the mood Martin." Andy said not looking at his antagonist.

"Well that's just too bad cause I am." Kurt said, slamming his fist into Andy's face.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jimmy said, "Come on, don't do this."

"And who's gonna stop us?" Kurt asked belligerently.

"I don't know maybe me." Jimmy said with confidence.

"And me." Sam jumped in.

"Stay outta this Sam." Jimmy shot at him.

"Yeah stay out this Sam!" Mark said antagonistically. He walked over and shoved Sam onto the ground. That was all it took for Jimmy. He lashed out with his fist crashing into Mark's jaw. Blood dripped over his lower lip, he cursed fiercely. But before he could strike back Jimmy grabbed him by the back of the head pushing his head down and slamming his knee into his stomach. Mark doubled over onto the ground. He was down and wasn't getting back up due to the realization that he was horrible outmatched and some excruciating pain.

"Good one Jimmy!" Andy called to him. He had taken his attention off of his opponent just long enough for a fist to impact his chest. He fell back, still on his feet, dazed and unable to move. Jimmy stepped up and slammed his fist into Kurt's chest just below his neck. Kurt gasped for air and fell to the ground. By this time Sam was on his feet and wasn't wasting any time.

"Come on you guys let's go!" Sam shouted in desperation. They didn't argue. They took off running down the sidewalk for home leaving the two bullies in their wake, moaning in pain on the cement. Kurt and Mark would never tell anyone what had happened for the simple fact that it would damage their reputations as people to be feared.

An hour later, Jimmy was studying homework with Sam, and helping Andy with his. Alice came in with a smile on her face. "How's it going you guys?"

"Great, we're almost done here." Jimmy informed her.

"Wait. What's that on your shirt Jimmy?" Alice pointed.

"What's what?" Jimmy asked pretending not to know what she was referring to.

"It looks like blood." Alice said.

"Oh… you weren't supposed to see that." Jimmy cringed.

"What's that supposed to mean? You've been fighting and you didn't want me to know? Is that it?" Alice demanded.

"Uhh…something like that…didn't wanna make you mad." Jimmy stammered.

"Well too late. Come on we need to talk." Alice commanded him.

"Okay, fine let's go outside." Jimmy replied. They stepped outside through the front doorway and Jimmy closed it behind him.

"What were you thinking?" Alice shouted at him.

"I was thinking my friend and my best friend where in trouble and I wanted to help."

"That's nice but didn't you learn anything the last time you got into a fight? Like the need to just walk away!" Alice shouted.

"When I'm being attacked I think I should defend myself."

"The best way you could have defended yourself would've been for all of you to walk away." Alice repeated.

"That wasn't exactly an option."

"Well if you'd been thinking you would've gone and gotten help or called the police or something." Alice stated forcefully.

"Well I guess I wasn't thinking then."

"That's right you weren't." Alice agreed.

"Why are you lecturing me like this? You're not my mother!"

"And apparently I'm not your girlfriend anymore either." Alice added.

"What? It doesn't have to be like that." Jimmy pleaded.

"Yes it does. I told you one more time and I couldn't date you anymore." Alice reminded him.

"Fine! Be that way!" Jimmy said stubbornly.

"Fine!" Alice shouted back.

"FINE!" Jimmy said going inside and slamming the door behind him.

"Jimmy…" Sam started.

"Don't say anything if you know what's good." Jimmy snapped.

"What do you want us to do then?" Andy asked.

"I think you guys should leave." Jimmy said. They didn't argue. They just left without saying much of anything. About a half hour later Rose got home from school. And then an hour after that so did Michael. But neither of them had any interaction with Jimmy. When their parents came home Rose said "Mom, Jimmy's up in his room. He won't come out and he won't answer me."

"I'll go see if I can find out what's wrong?" Lilly told her. She walked upstairs and knocked on Jimmy's door. There was no answer. She tried several more times but still got no answer from inside. "Fine, don't answer but I'm still coming in." She came in to find Jimmy lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his eyelids barley blinking. A small portion of his stomach was exposed at the bottom from where he had flopped onto the bed and not bothered to pull his shirt down. "Jimmy what's wrong?" Lilly asked. He said nothing and still didn't move a muscle. He gave no sign that he even knew there was another person in the room. "Jimmy talk to me…Can you hear me? Oh my God are you having some kind of diabetic problem?" Lilly said franticly.

Jimmy snapped back into responsiveness. "No mom. I'm fine."

"Oh, good. I thought there was something wrong." Lilly said, her hand on her chest.

"There is…it's just not that." Jimmy said.

"What is it?"

"Alice…she broke up with me." Jimmy told her, being surprisingly straightforward considering the circumstances. Lilly sat down on the bed next to her son. He sat up and moved next to her.

"Oh, baby I'm so sorry." Lilly said putting her arm around him, pulling him up against her. They sat there in silence for a long while in the slight dusk of the evening. Over a half an hour later Lilly broke the quiet. "You think you'll be okay?"

"I'll manage, somehow."

"Wanna come down and get some dinner in a little while?" Lilly suggested in a very diplomatic tone of voice.

"No, I'm not hungry."

"What if I bring you something later?" Lilly tried again.

"Maybe. That might be nice."

"Okay, well I'm gonna leave you alone for now. I'll tell everybody you're okay." Lilly said as she got up and walked out the door, closing it behind her, leaving Jimmy in the darkness of his room.

Later that evening after he had eaten the sandwich and juice his mother had brought him he went outside forgetting to put a coat on. But he didn't seem to notice the cold. He sat down on the edge of the deck with his legs dangling over the side. He sat in silence for a while. But before long, without even being totally aware of it he started to sing out loud to himself. "…_But you didn't have to walk away no you didn't have to walk away. You didn't have to walk away from me tonight. No you didn't have to walk away. You didn't have to walk away. No you didn't have to walk away from me tonight". _He wasn't sure where he'd heard the words before, but they seemed fitting at the moment.

Earlier that same day Alice slowly made her way back home. She wished she could take back everything she had just said and done. But in her mind she was at least partly sure it had been the right thing to do given the situation. When she got home she slumped in through the door and made her way to the stairs. But before she could make it there her mother noticed her. "What's wrong Alli?"

"What makes you think there's anything wrong?"

"A mother knows when her little girl is down." Her mother said warmly.

"I broke up with Jimmy."

"What? How come? He's such a nice boy. Why would you do such a thing?" Her mother asked.

"He got into another fight after school today."

"I thought he was past that part of his life. How did it happen?" Her mother asked in disbelief.

"I don't really wanna talk about it."

"Okay. When you're ready, I'm here to talk." Her mother reminded her.

Without another word Alice walked sulkily up the stairs for her room. But before she got there her older brother crossed her path in the upstairs hallway. He was now twenty, and very tall and lanky. But he was still fairly good looking. He was home on break from college. He had moved away to school but he was still the best brother she could ever hope to have. He was always supportive of her. He always had good, strong advice for her when she needed it. He was almost never rude to her, the way a stereotypical older sibling was. He had always been kind and gentle no matter what. This made it exceptionally easy for Alice to confide in him. But at the moment she didn't feel like speaking to anyone. So if she wanted to open up to her brother he would have to make the first move. Luckily for her, Simon was even better at reading her emotions than her mother was.

"What's up Alli? You look like you're cat just died. Only I happen to know we don't have a cat. So what happened?" Simon asked not grinning at his joke.

"I just broke up with Jimmy." Alice said. It didn't feel any better saying it the second time but she knew she'd have to talk about it sooner or later.

"Why? Was he cheating on you or something?" Simon asked.

"No, nothing like that."

"Yeah, I kinda didn't think so. He doesn't strike me as that kind of guy." Simon said knowingly.

"You're right. He's not."

"Well then what made you leave him?" Simon asked.

"He got into another fight. I just couldn't handle it anymore." Alice said. They sat down in Simon's room. He sat on a desk chair and she sat on the bed.

"We'll I don't blame you…but I know him well enough. He must've had a reason. Right?" Simon asked.

"He did. I just didn't like the reason."

"What was it?" Simon asked.

"He was standing up for Sam and another friend."

Simon finished the thought "And you thought he should know enough, to walk away from it, by now."

"That's right. I know his friends where getting hurt. But he could've helped them get away. He didn't have to…"

"You're right. He shouldn't have. So not to be too obviously ignorant, but are you alright? Are you gonna be okay now that you're without a boyfriend? Cause you know he was your best friend since before you could walk…before he was your boyfriend. And now he's neither." Simon stated the ugly truth.

"Gee thanks. Way to cheer me up."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up. You would've gotten there on your own." Simon said, a pained expression of remorse.

"Actually. Thank you. The sooner that got to me, the sooner I could deal with it. Now it won't hit me later on and make things worse."

"O-kay. Whatever you say." Simon said, confused. "So, again, do you think you're gonna be alright?"

"I'll find a way."

"Well I know something that always used to make you feel better." Simon said. He walked over to her and wrapped her into a warm hug. She smiled even though she didn't feel like smiling any time soon.

They sat in Simon's room for hours talking about anything and everything.

"So how do you think I should get past this? I mean I won't have anybody really close to talk to at school. Sam and Jimmy were my only close friends. There are other people but nobody _that_ close to me. And Sam'll probably just stick around with Jimmy. So…" Alice pondered to her brother.

"Well. I know this is a little soon to ask. But, you think maybe you might wanna get back out there? You know, try finding another boy you could date? I mean when you start dating when you thirteen…it's kind of impressive it lasted as long as it did." Simon said.

"So you're saying I should try finding another guy to date?"

"Yeah, isn't there anybody out there you think might be interested in you?" Simon suggested.

"I don't know. It's been a long time since I thought about any other boy that way besides Jimmy. I mean we've been dating for more than a year and a half…almost two years."

"Well then it's about time isn't it? Just think, are there any boys you might be interested in?" Simon asked.

"Well there's Cole…no. Ummm…Dylan…no. Mitchel…nah…Harry…yeah. Harry Warr, he's always been really nice to me. He moved here from Australia in sixth grade. He's got a really cool accent."

"Cool accent. That's a start. What else is there you like about him?" Simon asked.

"Well he was on the debate team with Jimmy and me. He's pretty smart. There were a couple of debates we'd have lost without him. He smiles whenever I say 'hi' to him…"

"Okay, that's good. What did you mean when you said he's always been nice to you?" Simon asked.

"Well he had to learn certain things for our debates and I had to learn other things. And one time I couldn't find anything on my part. So he stayed up really late and found it and sent it to me. There was another time I was sick and Jimmy was away at his great aunt's funeral and Harry brought me the homework and copies of all his notes. And he's always been really nice to me whenever we've talked."

"Sounds good. Maybe you should ask him out." Simon concluded.

"Well like you said. It's a little too soon. Give it a little time and I might."

"Okay. Well let me know how it goes when you do." Simon asked her.

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go to my room for a while. See ya later?"

"Of course." Simon said.

The next day Alex was walking down the beach. He still couldn't face Rose without too much heartache. And since he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't be interrupted under the pier. He was looking for a new place to be alone with his thoughts. He made his way farther and farther down the beach. Behind him he noticed a teenager running down the shoreline like he was just out getting exercise. But there where beach police close behind him. Alex took little notice of this. He just wanted to be by himself and not worry about other people's problems. After about twenty minutes of walking, Alex came upon a very large rock formation at the edge of the water. There hadn't been any people around for about the last five minutes he had been walking and now he knew why. Where there was a large amount of rock, logically there were smaller amounts of rock leading away from it, unseen beneath the water, making it undesirable to swim in or do anything else for that matter. Alex figured this to be the perfect spot to be alone with his thoughts, uninterrupted and not be reminded of the feelings he was trying to escape.

He looked out towards the end of the rock formation where the waves impacted with it. Most of the water just bounced back into the ocean, but some of it sprayed over the rock and rained down near the back of the rock. This is where Alex chose to sit. He didn't mind the cool breeze of water that was now soaking him. In fact it seemed to help sooth his frayed nerves and aching heart. But the effect was only temporary as he would quickly discover. But first his mind went to thoughts of nothing but utter contentment. But these thoughts didn't last long. After he settled down thoughts of Rose once again invaded his mind. He couldn't seem to get her out of his head no matter how hard he tried. This was another sign that he was hopelessly and head over heels in love with his best friend. And the thing that plagued his mind and tore him to pieces inside was the fact that he knew she did not return the feelings and there was a good chance she never would. Her heart beat faster for someone else. Alex didn't know how he was going to handle this regrettable and unfortunate truth. The only thing he could think of to do was to shut himself off from other people and be by himself when he was feeling down. He knew this approach wouldn't be effective forever. He would have to face Rose and he would have to face the truth. He couldn't become too incredibly isolated from people. It was more than obvious to him that this would lead to further pain and difficulty. But for now, he was convinced moments of solitude where the only cure for his pain.

But even being by himself couldn't shield him from thoughts of Rose and the feelings he may never be able to share with her. His thoughts moved into his imagination. He imagined a time where he was open with Rose about his feelings and she loved him for it. He imagined them walking down the beach side by side, hand in hand. They were a couple, they were in love with each other and there was no one else in the world for them except each other. Everything just seemed as if it was meant to be. Soon enough his eyes opened and he returned to his real existence. A life without Rose, or at least without her the way he wanted. He came to accept that she would likely never love him as more than a friend. This realization was not a new one but for the first time it was fully accepted and it was heartbreaking. He lay there on his back in the sand, letting reality wash over his like a horrible salty wave of pain and despair. When he went home that evening his parents asked him where he had been all day. He made up an excuse that was wholly uncreative. This was going against the norm because he never lied to his parents. He was nearly a perfect child in their minds. But what they didn't know about his emotional pain and love-scarred heart would blow them away if they ever found out.

Earlier that day Jimmy was eating lunch with his brother and his friend, trying not to think about Alice.

"So Charlie how've Michael and his friends been treating you?" Jimmy asked.

"I couldn't ask for better friends. I didn't know what I was missing at my old school." Charlie said. Charlie hadn't been able to make a lot of friends in the past. It wasn't for lack of a good personality or good looks. He had both of those things in abundance. It was due to the fact that before his cancer he and his parents had moved around quite frequently. So much so that it was hard for him to make friends and be sure he would be there long enough develop any kind of connection with them. When he had been diagnosed with cancer his parents had decided they had had enough with moving, they were going to stay in one place. They had concluded that it was better for their son. He needed a happy and healthy environment. And he had found one with Michael and his friends.

"So you think you guys are gonna make the baseball team this spring?" Jimmy asked.

"Hope so. We've been practicing hard enough." Michael replied.

"Well no matter how long you stay with something. There's always a chance it might not work out… It might get mad at you and break up with you and then what are you left with?" Jimmy said, starting to rant.

"Don't listen to him Charlie. We'll do great. He's just upset cause his girlfriend dumped him." Michael said brashly.

"Nice one little bro. Wait till you start dating a girl and she doesn't like something about you and hangs you out to dry!" Jimmy said, tersely. Michael and Charlie looked at each other briefly.

"Dating a girl? Why would I ever do that? Gross!" Michael said sticking his tongue out.

"Wait about a year and you'll eat your words." Jimmy said.

"Sure whatever you say. Maybe I'll take what happened to you as a warning." Michael said, not censoring himself at all.

"Shut up!...I gotta go…out." Jimmy said slowly.

He bolted out the door with no further explanation of his intentions. The reality of his break up had just now come into full focus. The only thing he could think of to do was what he always did in stressful situations. He jogged down to the beach and started running. But there was a difference. He usually did his running in the evening or went to bed early and got up very early in the morning to do it. But this time it was in the middle of the afternoon. There where people lining the beach, trying to relax and take in the sun. It was fairly cold. But the people of Malibu where never stopped by cold weather. The beach was something that didn't go away depending on the season. And it wasn't particularly cold during the daylight hours.

Jimmy ran down the beach trying to clear his head of thoughts of Alice and how she had left him without much warning. What he didn't notice was the increasingly aggravated beach dwellers that he was getting sand on. But unfortunately they did notice him. And unbeknownst to him one of them had gotten the beach police to try to stop him. Before long he noticed two police officers chasing behind him. He took no notice as he passed a dark haired, sullen looking boy walking down the beach trying to get away from everyone else.

"Hey, young man, stop!" Shouted the taller of the two officers. Jimmy didn't heed the first command.

"YOU! STOP,NOW!" The officer yelled at the top of his lungs. Jimmy shuddered to a stop, realizing the seriousness in the officer's voice. He turned around and faced the two police officers noticing the name tag on the shorter, burlier-looking officer. It read 'Sgt. Oken'.

"Jimmy what is going on? You realize how many people you've ticked off?" He asked heatedly, lifting his sunglasses down off his face.

"Uncle Owen…I… I don't know what I was thinking. I…" Jimmy sputtered. His father's younger brother Owen looked him over.

"You don't know? I think you better give me a better explanation than 'I don't know'. We are family, but that doesn't mean I can't fine you for disturbing the peace." Owen said.

"I'm really sorry. I mean it, really. It won't happen again. I promise. It's just…I'm going through something right now and I needed to let off some steam." Jimmy sputtered.

"Okay, well since it's the first time I'll just let you go with a warning. But what is it you're going through anyway?" Owen asked.

"My girlfriend dumped me…" Jimmy said for what felt like the millionth time.

"I know the feeling. And trust me… just give it time. You will get past it. But just don't going tearing down the beach in the middle of the day. Alright?" Owen said, replacing his sunglasses over his eyes.

"Alright. I'm just gonna go home for now. Thanks Uncle Owen." Jimmy said walking off the beach and back towards home.

Meanwhile Alice was sitting in a bookstore in the mall with a friend talking.

"So what's with you Alice?" Emma asked.

"Nothing…I mean I did just break up with my boyfriend. So nothing big really." Alice said sarcastically.

"Nothing big? Are you kidding? You dumped Jim Oken? He's so h…" Emma started to say, but was cut off.

"I know what he is. You don't have to tell me. Trust me I already know." Alice snapped.

"But besides that, you two seemed so perfect together." Emma said.

"Well I thought so too. But some things just don't last." Alice told her friend.

"But… I mean besides the fact that he's a total h…Uhh besides that. He's such a cool guy. He's nothing like the other guys like him. He's so down to earth. Nothing like most of the garden variety jerks running around SVHS." Emma said.

"Yeah, I know that too. But it wasn't working anymore." Alice told her.

"Why not? He was good for you, and you where good for him. What else is there?" Emma asked.

"You know how he used to get into fights sometimes?" Alice asked.

"Yeah so, that was a million years ago." Emma replied.

"Well I thought so too. But yesterday he got into another one. He was standing up for a friend. But I just don't want to be around that anymore." Alice said.

"So what're you gonna do now that you're single? Ya gonna try and find somebody else?" Emma asked.

"I'm trying not to think about that too hard. But maybe when I finish letting this all sink in then maybe…" Alice thought aloud.

"And when do you think that'll be?" Emma asked.

"I don't know! Maybe weeks…months. Who knows?" Alice barked.

"Well since you broke up with Jim, you mind if I have a go at him?" Emma asked. But with a look from Alice that needed no explanation, she corrected herself. "Sorry, kidding. It was a joke…relax. Life's a lot easier with a sense of humor."

"Don't say that. Jimmy always says that."

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the thirteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**15 ½. **__Rose is __**13 ½. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**11 ½.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	14. Walking Away

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

_* The previous chapter took place when Jimmy was 15 ½ and Rose was 13 ½ and Michael was 11 ½._

_*This chapter takes place when Jimmy is days away from 16, Rose nearly 14, and Michael is nearly 12._

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 14: Walking Away–**

It was a hot summer day in Malibu. A blond haired boy who was not yet fourteen was asking his father for advice about a girl.

"Dad, I really like her. We've been doing a lot together lately. So I've gotten to know her." The boy said.

"I don't hear a question in there. Are you saying you want to date her?" His father asked.

"Yeah, I think that's what I was getting at." The boy said.

"Well what's she like?" His father asked.

"She's really pretty. She's got a funny sense of humor, kind of weird. But for some reason I laugh even if I know it's not funny. She's smart. She was valedictorian at eighth grade graduation. She's got some nice cur…" The boy said, he was cut off by his father.

"That's enough detail I think. Let's just focus on the 'smart with a good personality' part. I'm glad to hear that. I was hoping you wouldn't be going after girls as lightheaded as the ones your brother brings home." His father said.

"Hey! They weren't lightheaded. They were… slightly challenged." His older brother said.

"Name one girl you've dated so far, Roger, that's been brighter than a twelve watt." Their father said.

"Cindy was smart and that Australian accent…" Roger said, not making a good point.

"Oh yeah, Cindy, she'll make a good flight attendant some day. _Oh, I'm sorry sir, would you like a stronger drink_?" Their father said mockingly in a slow sounding falsetto.

"I'm going over to Joann's where it's fun, see ya." Roger grumbled.

"So what's this girl's name?" The father asked.

"Her name's Rose. Rose Oken. She's been nice to me ever since we moved here from LA. It was creepy at first. But she's really cool." The boy said.

"Well then what are you doing sitting around here with your old dad?" His father asked.

"So you think I should do it?" The boy asked, albeit a little slow to catch on.

"Yes, you should do it. Don't be shy. You've never been like that before. You've always had a big mouth." His father teased him.

"Thanks dad. That really helps a lot." The boy said.

"Look, you'll be fine. Now don't sit around here anymore. Go get 'er Ben." His father said.

"Okay, hope it goes well." Benjamin Linus said to his father as he walked out the door.

"Do worry, you'll be fine! You're my son, how can you not be!" Jacob shouted to his son.

"So how's single life treatin' ya J?" Andy joked.

"The same as it was yesterday and the day before that and the day before that... like I let its favorite cat run away." Jimmy said in heated tones.

"No need to get hostile Jimmy." Sam pleaded.

"I'm not, it's just you guys keep asking me the same thing every single day." Jimmy complained.

"And you keep making jokes day after day. Yesterday it was 'Like I totaled its car' the day before that it was 'like I had my mom sing for it'. That's not cool by the way, raggin' on your mom like that." Sam told him.

"Sorry I'll come up with better one-liners. Good enough?" Jimmy asked, intentionally not getting their point.

"No, you need to deal with it." Sam insisted.

"What makes you think I'm not dealing with it? Maybe I'm over it. Ever think of that?" Jimmy snapped back at them.

"Actually no. One of the hottest girls in Malibu broke up with you and you just went on like it was nothing. You didn't shed a tear. You just acted like you never knew her." Andy said, being uncharacteristically deep but at the same time typically obtuse.

"First of all Alice is not the hottest girl in Malibu. I've seen at least three just today, that where twice as hot. And second, I did take it bad; I just didn't have a huge break down. And lastly, I'm a man and men don't cry. Besides I'm better off without her." Jimmy said, also being uncharacteristically chauvinistic.

"Jimmy that is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard. I hate it when people say 'I'm better off without her'. It's so stupid. And they almost never actually believe it. And 'men don't cry'? Really? What is this? The nineteen-fifties?" Sam said, this being one of his fleeting moments of wisdom.

"Ok, what do you want me to say. 'I miss her every day. A piece of me dies every time I see her with _him_. I wish it could've been different. Ok, I admit all of it. So what?" Jimmy unloaded a little, but not being entirely sincere.

"So, it's a good step. You can start to move on. And don't sell Alice short…she is fine!" Sam said, returning to his normal level of tact.

"Dude, don't say her name. I don't wanna hear it. And you have a girlfriend. I don't think Emily would wanna hear that you have your eyes on other girls." Jimmy said, throwing some unnecessary verbal cold water on Sam.

"I was just being honest. It doesn't mean I was hitting on her or something." Sam said.

"And I am moving on. In two months I'll be a junior, I'll have my license and maybe a new girlfriend too. How about that?" Jimmy said, a slick expression on his face.

"I still don't see why you need a new girlfriend. There's nothing wrong with the old one." Andy said, densely.

"You're right, there's nothing wrong with the old one…except … oh yeah… she's seeing someone else now. So it's kind of not an option to patch things up and get back together. Why don't you two just drop it?" Jimmy said, starting to get frustrated.

"Fine, how's work?" Sam asked, knowing it was a good time to change the subject.

"They let me see patients every once in a while." Jimmy said enthusiastically.

"That must be fun. Getting to see all the cuts, and blood, and vomit, and stuff." Andy commented.

"Actually it's not that bad. That stuff doesn't really bother me." Jimmy remarked.

"Well good for you. I could never stand to see all that stuff." Andy said, squinting his eyes and imitating a chill going down his back.

"Wow, and come to think, all these years I thought you where this guy that had this really thick skin. You think you know a person..." Jimmy teased.

"Having thick skin and being fat are two different things. Besides I don't have either of those now." Andy reminded him.

"Well the only thing that really does get me is the few times I've gone up to 'Critical Care' I had to get over the whole 'Here today, gone tomorrow' thing." Jimmy said, looking grim.

"Yeah, I could see how that could be depressing." Sam said.

"I wouldn't say it depresses me. It just makes me think…" Jimmy said looking down at his feet.

"Yeah, so me and Em are going to see a movie. I'll see you guys later." Sam said.

"Later." Andy said.

"Later, man." Jimmy replied to both of them.

Alex was heading toward the pier to meet up with Rose. He was fourteen now and had a lot more confidence than he was used to. He had made up his mind; today was the day he was going to do it. Today was the day he was going to tell Rose he loved her. He thought he might even ask her to be his girlfriend. He had never felt better than he did at this moment. He thought it was the perfect time to make a move. Rose hadn't mentioned Ben Linus in over a month. She seemed to have gotten him out of her head. This was slightly suspect, though, because she was still spending quite a bit of time with him. But it didn't matter to Alex. Before he knew it she would be his girlfriend and she wouldn't care one way or another about Ben. It made him smile brighter than he'd smiled in a long time. He had had so much heartache when it came to Rose that he almost thought it too good to be true. But he wasn't going to miss the chance.

Alex approached the pier and began walking down the old wooden planks to the place where they always met. And before long he saw the sight he had been waiting to see all day. There she was…and there he was too. Blonde and arrogant as the sun was hot. It was Ben, and he was talking to Rose. They were smiling at each other and laughing. Secretly Alex thought Ben must be laughing at him the way self important athletes laugh at the person who comes in second to them. He wasn't about to give up. Alex figured maybe they were just having a really funny conversation. After all Rose was very funny, Alex knew, even when she wasn't funny. _"But if they're just joking around why doesn't she stop staring into his eyes like that? Why are they holding hands now? Are they about to kiss?" _Alex thought to himself. He couldn't take it any longer. "Rose I lov…" He began to shout. But he decided against it. It was better to tuck tail between his legs and not get hurt any more. He ran in the other direction as fast as he could. Rose and Ben looked in the direction in which they had heard her name called from.

"I could have sworn I heard my name." Rose said, with a bewildered expression.

"Nah. It was nothing. Now where were we?" Ben asked. They leaned in and kissed. Ben smiled. He had done it; he had won the fight against his nerves. She was his girlfriend, and he was going to take care that it stayed that way.

Meanwhile Alice was on yet another date with her new boyfriend, of two months, Harry Warr. They went to a beach side restaurant and got lunch. "You know I think it's really cute how you get something, and scrape everything off. But then you eat it anyway." Harry said with a smile. Alice laughed. The comment he had made was anything but funny, but for some reason with his Australian accent, it seemed somehow laughable. It was a strange thing too because whenever Jimmy had said something that made her laugh she actually thought it was funny. With Harry she was just laughing because it sounded cute with an accent.

"You know I still can't get past that accent of yours." Alice commented.

"You mean it bothers you? I don't know if there's anything I can do about it." Harry said apologetically.

"No, it definitely isn't a bad thing. I think it's really cute." Alice grinned. Alice got to thinking _"Jimmy always apologized for things he couldn't help. But still I'm glad Harry's this polite." _

"I hope you didn't want to date me just to hear me speak. I mean that's flattering and all, but I don't think I was looking for a relationship like that." Harry said.

"Oh no, that had nothing to do with it. You're an awesome guy and I wanted to move on from Jimmy. You know, get a fresh start with somebody. And you're a great guy so, yeah there's a lot more to it than me thinking you're cute." Alice assured him.

"And there's a lot more to it than me thinking you're attractive as well." Harry said in a sophisticated sounding voice.

"Well I'm glad. Jimmy used to tell me how beautiful he thought I was. So it's good that it's not all about that with us." Alice said. _"It wasn't like that with Jimmy either. We had a lot more. But I can have a lot with Harry too."_ Alice thought.

"So what do you want to do now?" Harry asked her.

"Well we could walk down the beach together."

"That sounds like a fun idea. As long as I've been here in California I've never just walked down the beach." Harry said, smiling at her.

"Well then I think it's about time. Let's go. That where Jimmy and I usually walk." Alice said, not realizing that she was bringing Jimmy up more than a little. As they moved away from the table Alice noticed that Harry stepped aside and let her walk in front of him, just like Jimmy always did.

As they made their way down the beach Harry began to walk closer to her side. He slipped his hand unobtrusively over to hers and locked his fingers in with hers. _"Just like Jimmy did it. But he did it without me noticing."_ Alice thought.

"I lived in the hills in the countryside of Australia so I'd never seen the sun hit the ocean like that before. It's quite a view." Harry observed.

"Yup, that's why people are always out here." Alice told him. _"Lame." _She thought. She couldn't shake the feeling that Jimmy was a lot more interesting than this guy. "_But at least Harry wouldn't get into stupid fights like Jimmy did. But is that a good reason to date a person. Cause they don't get into fights." _She thought. "Oh there's some beach chairs. Why don't we sit for a while?"

"Ok, I'll take right you take left." Harry said. They sat down in the tall wooden beach chairs that Alice had spotted. "So, ready for grade eleven…I mean junior year?" Harry asked her trying to spark up a conversation to light up an otherwise dull date.

"No. Not even a little. I need my summers. They keep me sane in between school years." Alice remarked quite seriously.

"I guess you're right. In Australia we went all year long and got the week at the end of each month off. So I guess I'm just not as used to having this much time off as you are." Harry said.

"It's not like I don't have anything to do. I do have that job coaching the Youth League girls' summer softball team. That's pretty fun. And then there's dates with you." Alice said. "You're right, summer is a good thing. But you know what they say about to much of a good thing?" Harry said.

"You know Harry; it's not quite what I'd been thinking." Alice blurted out. She had been thinking it all afternoon. In fact she had been thinking along these lines for weeks already. But this was the first time she had said it out loud. She had not meant to. She had wanted to, but she wasn't sure how. And now that it had slipped out, she wasn't sure how where to go with it.

"What isn't what you where thinking?" Harry asked her.

"Us…dating. I don't know. It's just…you're so cute and so smart and everything. But it just doesn't seem like there's that much in common between the two of us. I keep thinking you're perfectly fine as a boyfriend, but it just doesn't feel…" Alice said.

"It doesn't feel the same as when you where with your ex." Harry finished for her.

"It's not that. It's not about him at all." Alice said. This is where the lies started.

"Is it something I did? I mind my manners. I try to be a gentleman with you. I try to think of things to say that make you smile." Harry said slightly frantically, but still in his customary elegance.

"It's nothing you did. You've been nothing but the best I could hope for. You've done…and said all the right things. But…Well all I can say is it's not you. It's definitely not you, it's me." Alice said. She immediately regretted having said it in the way she had for she knew that every boy's worst nightmare was to hear the words 'It's not you it's me'. Because it was always blatantly obvious that it was a bald-faced lie. But she couldn't tell him the truth that she preferred her old boyfriend, and he was a bit of a letdown.

"So it's not me…but you're still breaking up with me, right?" Harry said, his eyes looked glassy.

"No, I'm not. I don't want to break up with you. I…I just need some time." Alice said, another cliché fraise painfully left her lips.

"Time for what?" Harry asked anxiously, looking even more to be on the verge of tears.

"Time to think." Alice put simply.

This was another lie, and Alice knew it was just as transparent as the last, maybe even more so. She knew that when someone said 'I need time' the other person knew immediately it meant 'I want to break up with you, but I need to find a way to let you down without hurting your feelings too badly.' But it was the best method she could come up with. And the truth was she did need time to think. She needed to think about whether she should try to get back together with Jimmy or just stay single for a while. It didn't seem complicated when it was put to words. But in truth, in her heart these decisions where the biggest she'd ever had to face. She realized she needed another person to talk to, to help her make the right decision.

"Ok, take all the time you need. You know how to get me." Harry said. He then promptly stood and walked off the beach in the direction that led to his house, a single tear ran down his cheek. Alice sat there for several minutes and then decided to go home. There was nothing for her to do at the moment but be alone with her thoughts. She got up to go home and as she walked down the beach a boy several years younger than her came into her line of sight. His face was covered in tears and he looked like he was about to drown in sorrow. He looked somewhat familiar to her, but she was sure she didn't know his name. "Hey aren't you a friend of Jimmy's sister?" She called out to him. When she got no answer from him, she just kept heading for home. She thought nothing of it. After all she really didn't know him.

Alex had wanted to answer her; he had wanted to find somebody to let loose the explosion of emotions he had tearing up his insides at the moment. But he realized it would be too painful to talk about. So he just kept walking and ignored her inquiry into something he figured no one could ever understand or even attempt to fathom. He couldn't think of anywhere to go to escape into his misery. So he went to the only place he had been able to be alone in a long time. As he approached the rock formation, far away from any beach goers, he knelt down and slumped up against the back of the rock. The tide was in so the water beat harshly against his back, but he did not care. It was almost as though physical pain would bring some solace to the deep emotional pain he was enduring. But it wasn't nearly enough to take his mind off his heartbreak. He sat there, the water now beating against his bare back. He felt that the shirt he had worn when he saw _it _happen was somehow soiled and he could no longer stand to wear it. He was rather slim so he felt every sharp particle of water bite into his back. He longed to flee this ordeal of physical and emotional pain. But no exit seemed to occur to him. All he could do was sit there and wallow in sadness. He could not even find the will to stand and move away from the waves of water cascading against his back.

Hours later he had not moved, but he had lost himself inside his head. His thoughts, as they had the last time he had been here, turned to those of contentment and fantasy. He envisioned himself with Rose. They were happy and together at last. She was his girlfriend. They walked together hand in hand as if they joined by the fingers in a natural and utterly necessary connection. He felt the warmth of her touch on the skin of his hand. And she turned to him and wrapped her arms around him and smiled slightly up at him. They spoke soft and endearing words to each other and had only the most blissful feelings for each other. It was not important to be overly physical with each other because they shared a strong emotional connection that stemmed from the heart and the soul. It was as if they where two halves that completed each other. Their entire beings revolved around their love for each other. Nothing else came close to what they had for each other. He loved her and she loved him.

Suddenly a particularly strong wave slammed him back into reality as well as flat onto his face. He thought about staying like that. Letting the wet sands of the beach swallow him down along with all his pain. Reality was not as grand and perfect as it was in his fantasy. The desire to be swallowed up by the elements only lasted for several seconds. That is until he felt a hand rubbing against his bare shoulder. He threw himself over into a sitting position and looked to see who it was that had dared to invade his tragic privacy. It was none other than Kristen Bauer, the girl that always seemed to find him in his time of great need. Alex jumped to his feet and brushed all the sand off his body.

"Are you alright Alex?" Kristen asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I guess so." He responded. He suddenly realized she was smiling quite broadly at him.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Alex demanded. He really didn't feel like seeing anyone smile, considering the dark place he was in at the moment.

"Nothing…"She said. She was staring at him smiling, and suddenly it dawned on him as to why. He still wasn't wearing his shirt. His face turned bright red. He was thoroughly embarrassed by the situation. He wrapped his arms around as much of his midsection as possible. But it was a futile maneuver. He could only cover so much of himself, especially due to the small growth spurt he had had recently. One part covered was another part exposed and the mortification was increasing by the second. He then got his wits about him and started to look for where he had placed his shirt. When he found it he attempted, in vain, to pull the soaked shirt over his head.

He realized Kristen was now giggling at his plight. "It's not funny." Alex insisted.

"Yes it is. I think you're adorable." Kristen beamed.

"What did you just say?" Alex demanded.

"I said you're adorable. You're so awkward around girls, it makes you funny." Kristen said, her smile continued to grow and burn Alex emotionally.

"Well I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Can't you just go away?" Alex pleaded.

"It's not like I haven't seen you without a shirt on before. I've been on the beach with my friends at the same time as you and Rose."

"Well fine then, don't go see if I care." Alex said defiantly.

"I'm assuming you're in the same boat as you where the last time I found you huddled up alone?" Kristen poked at him.

"How'd you guess?" Alex said sarcastically.

"I don't have to be a genius. You're crazy about that girl and now she's going out with somebody that's not you."

"Yeah, you got any suggestions?" Alex asked, genuinely hoping she did.

"Well there's one thing you might not have thought of."

"What? What is it? I'll try anything." Alex said desperately.

"Well…I don't know."

"Come on, tell me. Can't you see I'm dying here?" Alex begged.

"You're not dying Alex."

"Well…you know what I mean. Now what is it you think I should do?" Alex asked as if life itself was at risk.

"You might not like it. I really don't think it's at all what you had in mind."

"How do you know? You can't know unless you tell me. What is it?" Alex demanded in his most desperate tone.

"This." She said, she moved closer and kissed him straight on the lips. For a moment Alex was frozen in shock. She pulled away and stared at him. He seemed to be cemented in place. But before she could say anything he dropped the soaked shirt he had been trying to untangle and leaned in kissing her back. They pulled apart after several seconds but they didn't move apart. They moved closer together and pulled each other into a hug. Kristen wrapped her arms around him placing them on the bare skin of his back. There she massaged his shoulder blades and whispered into his ears.

"It'll be alright. You'll be alright." She whispered. And when he got to thinking he realized she was right. He would be alright. The embrace didn't last for long. But it didn't have to. When they stood apart Alex knew he was going to be alright. He could be happy once more. He knew she had been right. This wasn't something he had considered. He had never entertained the notion that he could be with anyone other than Rose. But now he knew there were other possibilities. "Alex, take my towel, you're shivering." Kristen said wrapping a towel around his long, thin back and over his shoulders.

"Thanks." He whispered quietly.

"You're right; I think I will be okay." Alex murmured.

"That's good. So can we be friends?" Kristen asked as they walked back down the beach towards civilization.

"Yeah, but I think you were right." Alex repeated.

"Right about what?" Kristen asked him.

"About me…about there not being only one person." Alex said, trying to get her to understand his thoughts.

"I didn't really say that. But I guess that is what I was trying to get you to realize."

"You wanna go out some time? You know like on a date or something?" Alex asked.

"Sure, I'd like that a lot."

"Yeah me too." Alex smiled with shocking ease.

"To tell the truth I've had a big crush on you for a while now."

"Really?" Alex said, cracked another smile, even more effortlessly.

"Yeah, I think it started when I saw you outside the school during that play. You know, when you were out there crying?"

"Oh, so you like me cause I'm somebody vulnerable?" Alex stabbed at her.

"No, that's not it at all. It was just that was the first time I'd been able to share anything personal with you and you seemed like a really great…sensitive guy."

"Oh, thanks. That's nice to hear." Alex said. They walked down the beach and gradually Kristen worked her hand around Alex's. She wasn't the one he had envisioned this with. But he was now discovering that he could indeed be happy with someone other than Rose. He knew that someday maybe the time would be right for him to try again with Rose but for now he could move on.

The next day Alice was leaving the recreation center where she coached girls' softball on odd days of the week. She had gotten about half way home when she saw Sam walking down the sidewalk ahead of her. She recognized him from his distinctly red hair and neck freckles. He was alone at the moment, his girlfriend was working and he was heading home from the sushi restaurant he worked at. Alice considered it good fortune that she had caught him by himself, because although he was alone now, he would most likely be meeting up with either Jimmy or his girlfriend before long. And she had decided he was the one she needed to talk to. "Hey Sam, wait up!" She shouted to him. He turned around and smiled.

"Hey, you!" He shouted back. It had been something they had kept up since they were little.

"Hey, you!" She responded the way she always had.

"What's up Alice?" Sam asked as they fell into stride beside each other.

"I've been thinking about what happened between Jimmy and me."

"Yeah, and what've you been thinking exactly?" Sam asked.

"Do you think I made a mistake breaking up with him? Do you think maybe I should've been a little more understanding?"

"That's not really something I can answer." Sam said honestly.

"Why not?"

"Cause I'm not the one that was dating him. I don't know how it made you feel seeing him get into trouble like that." Sam said. Being strangely deep seemed to be more common with him lately.

"What can you tell me then?"

"Well I can tell you he's not gotten into anything like that since the last time you two spoke…which was the day you broke up." Sam recalled.

"Yeah, I haven't really seen him at all since then. I didn't want to see him at all, at first. And then I started dating Harry, and I think I'm breaking up with him. So is there anything different?"

"Wait you're breaking up with Harry Warr? The guy with that accent that drives all the girls wild. Why?" Sam said, a teasing grin on his face.

"Shut up!" She said smacking him in the arm.

"Well why are you?" Sam asked her again.

"It's just not working…it's not the same as…"

"I think I know what you mean." Sam said, still in that atypically deep manner.

"So what's new with Jimmy?" Alice asked a second time.

"Well he's been seeing a counselor to help find ways to deal with the…you know 'rough edges' he has. It's working really well I think. There seems to be a lot more of the 'cool Jimmy Oken' and less and less of the 'don't mess with me I'm big bad Jimmy'. I mean I'm not saying he's not using his normal way to deal with it. He is." Sam said.

"You mean…running and working out?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. I was going to say he's become Smockin' Oken with a lighter, but that's not funny and smocking's illegal…so…" Sam snickered at his admittedly unfunny joke.

"He's not eating too much junk like he used to? Putting on weight that way?"

"No, he doesn't like to do that. And he can't anyway. Remember, diabetes? He doesn't really know how to work junk into that. So he just doesn't." Sam told her.

"And he's…"Alice started.

"He's fine. You're really concerned about him aren't you? You still care." Sam said pocking the bear.

"Yeah, he's my best friend in the world. I can't not worry about him if I don't know for sure."

"Hey, what about me?" Sam grumbled.

"You're my best friend too. I care about you. But I've seen you in the last six months. And you know…"

"Yeah, I know. Jimmy's you're _best _friend." Sam said in mock jealousy.

"Glad you understand. So what d'you think I should do about all this then?"

"Have you talked it out with Harry?" Sam asked.

"Yes and no. I told him I need time to think."

"Ouch, I feel bad for him." Sam said wincing.

"What do you mean you feel bad for him?" Alice demanded.

"You know what I mean. He knows what's coming and you're making him suffer."

"Yeah, that is kind of mean isn't it? I didn't mean to, it's just I wanted to figure out how to do it and I needed someone to talk to." Alice tried to reason things out loud.

"So you came to me? The Sam man." Sam guffawed.

"'The Sam man'! Hah, I remember when you used to call yourself that and hoped it would catch on. You where so cute when you where little." Alice giggled.

"When I was little? I still am." Sam retorted.

"So what do you think I should do?" Alice asked seriously.

"Well I think you should go and explain things to Harry. Try to let him down easy. He's a good guy I think he'll understand… And you're so transparent, he probably won't wonder why." Sam said, not so seriously.

"Cheap shot." Alice said, elbowing him in the arm.

"Hey, stop that I bruise easily." Sam whined.

"So after I do that, then what?" Alice asked, hoping Sam could be a little more help.

"Then call me, and I'll tell Jimmy you want to talk to him. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to." Sam said cheerfully.

"Thanks a lot Sam. You're such a good guy." Alice said. She smiled and pulled him into a warm hug. "I love you Sam."

"What?" Sam said, a look of shock washed over his face.

"Sorry, I mean as a friend. Didn't mean to confuse you. It came out wrong." Alice stammered.

"It's all good. I love you as a friend too." Sam said. As they moved apart they looked each other in the eyes and for a moment they both thought a kiss was coming. But they shrugged it off easily.

"Alright, I'll see ya later 'Sam man'!" Alice smirked.

"See ya later you."

Alice moved off in the direction of Harry's house. When she rang the doorbell she was greeted by the inviting presence of Harry's father Joe Warr. "Hello Alice. Nice to see you around." He said in an accent twice as thick as his sons'.

"Hi Mr. Warr. Can I talk to Harry?" Alice asked.

"Sure thing love. Harry ya gull friend is hee-yuh." Joe yelled to his son. "He'll be down in a moment…oh hee-yuh he is."

"Hi Alice." Harry said, with his usual accent, as he walked out onto the front porch. "I'll be back in laytah daad."

"Okay…layyta." Joe said closing the door behind them.

"So, what is it Alice?" Harry asked.

"I need to talk you about…us." Alice said, looking down at her feet.

"I think I know what you're going to say." Harry said sternly.

"Okay, well then that makes this easier." Alice said, ashamed of how relieved she was acting.

"Can we at least stay friends?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Of course…But wow you could not be making this easier…Wow that sounded really callous." Alice said, the shame still mounting.

"It's alright. I understand why. You don't have to explain anything to me." Harry said. He was too good for her.

"I'm sorry but I feel like I owe you a little closure. This was kind of abrupt." Alice said, she knew she was throwing salt on the wound.

"Alright say whatever you need to. But just so you know, I knew we weren't connecting. I think I saw it coming." Harry told her.

"Well I've tried my best not to bring it up. But I never really got over Jimmy. I guess I didn't want to. You're a great guy and all but he and I really had a thing. And I think I might have acted too rashly breaking up with him the way I did. So…" Alice trailed off.

"I guess there's really nothing else to say, huh?" Harry said, looking down at his feet.

"Guess not." Alice said. Harry moved up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"See ya around love." Harry said. Calling someone 'love' for an Australian was like calling them 'friend' to an American. So Alice knew where they stood. She turned and began to walk away, but she turned back around and leaned up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"See ya around Harry." Alice said. She turned around and walked down the path back to the street and made her way towards the beach pier. As soon as she was a good distance from Harry's house she pulled out her phone and said 'Sam' into the bottom of it. Moments later his slightly pail, slightly freckled face appeared on the screen.

"Alice what is it?" Sam asked.

"You said when I was ready you could get Jimmy to meet me." She replied.

"Yeah, that was…what half an hour ago? You're really in a hurry aren't you? What's up with that?" He asked without tact.

"I don't know. Can you get him?" Alice asked anxiously.

"Sure. But I'm out with Em right now; I don't really know where he is." Sam told her, frowning.

"Call him, tell him to meet me in the spot under the pier in fifteen minutes, he'll know what I mean." She said in a hurried voice.

"But Alice I'm…" He was cut off; Alice had pressed the end call button on the screen.

She took off running towards the beach and the pier. To her surprise he was already there waiting for her when she got there. He must have run to get there.

"Jimmy I'm so glad you came."Alice exclaimed.

"Of course I came…I'll always come when you ask." Jimmy said. His voice sounded deeper than she remembered. And even thought it was just one sentence Alice sensed a heightened amount of maturity and the way he carried himself seemed more adult. Also his shoulders where slightly broader and Sam had been right Jimmy was noticeably more muscular. He seemed to carry that in a way that said he didn't care about it, the way he had always professed not to. His hair was the same; short and standing up the way it had been for the last four years. That was to be expected though. Jimmy had explained long ago that 'Oken men like to keep their hair one way for a long time'. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked, moving closer. Alice now noticed he was slightly taller as well.

"I think I was too quick with you, you know breaking up with you and all. I made a mistake."

"Well that's nice of you to say. But I don't agree." Jimmy said unexpectedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice asked, confused.

"Well you where right, I was way too immature for someone as great as you. I jumped into things without thinking and I deserved what happened. So I'm hoping the fact that you're talking to me again means you wanna be friends again. I'll be sixteen tomorrow so it'd be nice to start of fresh with you." Jimmy suggested.

"You never stopped being my friend, but I was hoping we could go back to the way it was before." Alice said, sounding almost desperate.

"I don't know if that's possible." Jimmy said, the words were like a dagger to Alice's soul.

"Why? Did you start dating another girl?" Alice asked, hoping for a two letter answer.

"No, but we've both…changed. If we where to start dating again, things would be different." Jimmy said solemnly.

"I'm okay with that." Alice insisted.

"So then what about Harry?" Jimmy asked curiously.

"Umm… he and I agreed it just wasn't working. Don't worry he took it alright I think." Alice assured him.

"That's good. So you're definitely not mad at me anymore?" Jimmy asked to be sure.

"No, I could never stay mad at you Jimmy, I love you. Now come on." Alice exclaimed.

"What? Where?" Jimmy asked in a slightly confused stupor.

"Just come on!" She repeated. They both ran down the beach towards the setting sun. They laughed giddily as they ran, waves splashing close to them as they went. Jimmy ground to a halt as something dawned on him. Alice stopped ahead of him and looked back.

"What's wrong? It's a beautiful night, what're you standing around for?" Alice asked in a bubbly voice.

"You said you loved me." Jimmy said, trying to digest it.

"Yeah, and?" Alice asked not seeing a problem.

"Well… I just wasn't expecting that. I don't know what to say except the obvious. And I know it's true, I've known it ever since you said you didn't care that I all of a sudden had diabetes problems. I love you too Alice."

If a person where to see them at this moment all they would see was two silhouettes whose heads blended together against the setting sun.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the fourteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**nearly 16. **__Rose is __**nearly 14. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**nearly 12.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	15. Happiness and Death

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 15: Happiness and Death–**

Alex was strolling down the hallways of Sea View High School with his new girlfriend between classes. She wasn't the girl he had pictured as his first girlfriend. In fact he hadn't pictured himself with any number of girls. Up until a month ago he had only imagined himself with one girl, his now very distant best friend Rose. They had grown apart lately because they were now dating other people and didn't seem to have any time for each other. Dating Kristen wasn't exactly what he had imagined. She wouldn't go skateboarding with him or surf the waves on the beach like Rose did. But he was willing to part with those things for the chance to be with someone that made him feel the way Kristen did. She inspired so much joy and confidence in him that he didn't know how he could be happier. He wasn't as awkward anymore and he was much more outspoken. When he wanted to be heard he spoke instead of sitting back and minding his own business as he had in the past. He had even adopted a slightly different look. He had gotten his hair cut slightly shorter and spiked it in the front. It made him feel more like a cool kid and it reflected his newfound cheerfulness.

"So have you and Rose spoken lately?" Kristen asked.

"No, not really. Maybe just a little bit. We haven't really had any time for each other." Alex said.

"Well then don't look now cause here she comes with Ben."

As if by impulse and not his own will Alex defiantly turned to see them as they walked nearer. They were walking very close together. Ben his hand firmly clutched around Rose's in a manner that slightly resembled a leash. He seemed to be giving gloating and cautionary looks to all the other boys they passed. It was as if he was saying _"Back off she's mine." _When they passed by Rose shot Alex something that resembled a smile. But no sooner had she done that had Ben pulled her into a kiss that looked to be just a little forced. When they were out of earshot Kristen spoke up.

"Wow, he seems really possessive of her. He gives off really ugly vibes."

"I'm trying not to pay attention. Besides it's not that bad anyway."

"But doesn't it bother you the way he's treating her. You _do _love her, don't you?"

"I _did_ love her. I'm with you, so my feelings for her aren't important."

"She's still your best friend. It should bother you a little. I mean you can't hang out with her at all. I don't think Ben would allow that. He's such a jerk. He thinks he can control her like that."

"Well if there's anything I've learned about Rose it's that she won't let anybody dominate her life like that. It's twenty thirty-five. Girls don't let boys treat them like that. And Rose is no exception. She'll put him in his place soon enough. And if that doesn't work she make _his place _be not with her."

"You really think so? She looks like she's so into him that she'd let him be whatever way he wants with her."

"Yeah, that's not Rose. She'll get over how brainwashed she is by him and then she'll either make him see reason or dump him."

"And if she does dump him, I suppose you'll want to be free to 'go after her'. Right?"

"No, not at all. I really like you. I'm not gonna split up with you just cause of that. I'm not that kind of person. I want to stay with you as long as you want to stay with me."

Kristen turned to him and ran her hand around the front of his long, thin stomach, around his sides and wrapped them around his back. She pulled him into an affectionate hug and wrapped her face around the side of his neck. "You're so amazing Alex. I feel really lucky being with you. I guess it's a good thing you didn't get Rose to go out with you…no offense." He didn't respond but Kristen assumed she hadn't offended him.

"So why did you wanna be with me anyway? It's not like I'm some perfect looking surfer dude, like…Ben."

"Looks aren't everything. But just so you know you are cuter than Ben Linus by a mile." Alex smiled from ear to ear. "See that's what I mean, that smile is breathtaking." He kept smiling which forced her smile and give him a small kiss on his lips without losing her smile.

"Besides, if you where one of those guys I might think you where just as brainless as most of them. I might imagine you wearing a shirt that has arrows pointing to your arms that reads 'Wish these where brains'."

"Just so you know that's not true about all guys like that. Rose's older brother isn't 'brainless', he's at the top of the junior class, he's always been like that. And he's way stronger than Ben."

"We'll there's always an exception to the rule. But my point wasn't that surfer boys are dumb. My point was I like you for who you are and not what you look like. You're cute so that's a bonus. So why did you want to be with me?"

"I think it's cause…you know I was in a lot of pain cause I knew I couldn't date Rose, right? You where the only one that seemed to understand it. And you always make me feel really good about myself. So you like the perfect girl to me. By the way you are beautiful. I can't go a day anymore without staring at your dimples."

"Hah, you are so corny. You know that? Just one more reason I can't get enough of you."

They walked to class together with brilliant smiles the entire way. Life was good for Alex for the first time in what seemed like forever to him. He wasn't sure, but he didn't see how things could get any better for him, but at the same time he knew they would.

A man in his early seventies was in dire straits. He had been taken to the hospital when his neighbor had noticed him having a heart attack outside his apartment. He was now in a hospital bed having a second heart attack and wishing with all that was left of his heart that it would just end and he could go in peace. But there was no such luck for him. As such his life had been the same way. It had been a series of events which led to his utter and inexorable failure. This day was no different. He felt a stabbing sensation in his chest which he realized was a doctor sticking a very large needle into his heart. He knew what would happen next and he wasn't disappointed. His heart slowed down promptly. Once he found the strength to speak again he looked to the doctor for answers.

"So am I gonna live doc or am I just gonna hafta beg for it one more time?" He said in a perverted kind of resentment.

"Sir, I'm sorry to say but this one was much worse than the first. I'll have to run some tests but I don't think you'll make it past the end of the weekend. Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, no, nooooo." He rasped in a blood curdling guttural voice.

"Then is there anyone you wish to see? Do you have any children you wish to have with you?"

"My older son won't want see me. So maybe I can get my younger son to guilt him into coming along. So, yes get me my son. Get me Owen."

Jimmy woke up on Saturday with a smile on his face. He was planning on spending the entire day with Alice. They were in love and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He went over to his closet and extracted a pair of jeans that he pulled on quickly. Then he slipped into a white shirt that fit in a way he knew Alice would find impressive. He then bounded down the stairs in a hurry to get started. His sister was even quicker than he was. Her new boyfriend Ben was sitting with her at the table in the room just off of the kitchen. They where kissing each other to what seemed to be no end.

"Do they really have to? There are people here that like to keep food inside their stomachs." Jimmy remarked.

"I know. They're so gross! You're way cooler than Rose. You and Alice don't so stuff like that."

"Thanks little bro. You're cooler then her too." Jimmy said patting his brother on the back.

"You two are right. I am gonna tell them to cut it out in a minute. But, Jimmy, you _where_ the one that I caught with your soon to be girlfriend trying to take your shirt off."

"You know that was an accident. It was during an earthquake and she fell on me."

"I believe him mom. But that in there, that's no accident. If he says his lips fell onto hers, he's lying and you should make him leave." Michael said, his eyebrows raised in disgust.

"You let me take care of that, okay?" Lilly said.

Behind her back Jimmy and Michael high-fived and threw each other grins of approval. Unbeknownst to him Michael's long black hair was dipping into the milk as he was eating his cereal. Jimmy found it amusing so he said nothing. But when Michael noticed it he whined inaudibly and started wiping it off with a wet paper towel.

"Why did you say anything?" Michael complained, a look of annoyance focused at Jimmy.

"You're just too funny little bro!" Jimmy laughed heartily.

All of a sudden something dawned on Jimmy. "Hey mom, where's dad?" He asked.

"He's over at your Uncle Owens' house."

"Why? They've had Ian for two years, you'd think he and Aunt Lisa could handle him by now." Jimmy joked.

"Not funny Jimmy. Besides I'm sure that isn't why your dad's over there."

"You mean you don't know?"

"No, he just told me Owen had something pressing he needed to talk about and he'd be back as soon as he could."

"I wonder what it is." Michael commented, in a highly uninterested tone of voice. No sooner had he made the remark there came an answer. Their father along with their Uncle Owen and Aunt Lisa, who was carrying their son Ian in her arms, came through the front door.

"What's going on you guys?" Lilly asked innocently.

"Our dad's dying." Oliver said referring to Owen and himself.

"So you need to go down there and be with him?"

"Yeah, but I'd like you to come with me."

"Then who's gonna watch the kids?"

"Jimmy can do it. He's sixteen. I think he's responsible enough."

"Ok, if you're sure about that."

"It'll be fine. Jimmy I need you to do something for us."

"Sure what is it dad?" Jimmy asked, not knowing what he was about to get himself into.

"I need you to watch the house till we all get back. My father's dying and I need to be there."

"But dad, I was gonna go on my first official date with Alice since we got back together. We've been really busy with work and stuff lately. This was our first chance."

"Sorry Jimmy, but I need you to do this. I need you to watch your brother and sister and your cousin while we're gone."

"But dad, Ian's two. What if he…well… what if anything happens with him?"

"You're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, you're in charge. I'll call you later. Hopefully we'll be back later tonight."

"I'm getting major points for this, right?"

"Of course. Rose, Michael, you're brother's in charge. Do everything he tells you. And remember, he'll tell me if you didn't." Oliver said. Rose only partially heard. She was still mostly focused on Ben. When they had all left, Jimmy sat down and thought of what to do. There was one thing he knew he was going to do since he was now in charge.

"You heard what dad said I'm in charge. In case you don't know what that means, I'll help you figure it out. Ben! Get lost!" Jimmy bellowed causing Ben to jerk to attention.

"Huh? What did you say?" Ben said, acting as if he hadn't heard what was said.

"I said: make like a tree and leave. Now."

"Who's gonna make me?" Ben asked, in a belligerent and albeit foolish manner.

"You really wanna find out kid?"

"Whatever. See ya later Rose."

Ben got inches from the door when Jimmy grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him. "What gives man?"

"Just so you know, I don't like the way you're treating my sister. Don't let me see you giving her a tonsillectomy in front of me again. And loose the attitude."

"What makes you think you can talk to me like that?"

"I'm her big brother, that's what makes me think it. So watch what you do with my sister. Now get outta here." Ben left without any further argument.

"Well you just ruined my day Jimmy. What gives!" Rose scolded him at the top of her lungs.

"I don't want that creep messing around with you right in front of me."

"Whatever, I hate you!" Rose screamed and stormed up to her room.

"Well I don't hate you. I'm glad you did that. That guy was freakin' me out." Michael said cautiously just in case Rose was still near.

"You would, wouldn't you, ya little lug nut." Jimmy said grabbing Michael and pulling him into a head lock.

"No wait, stop, come on!" Michael pleaded.

"Yup, you know what's gotta happen now!" Jimmy laughed deeply. He took his knuckles and rubbed them against Michaels head.

"Ah, you're messing up my hair, stop it." Michael begged. Jimmy reluctantly released him, but on his own terms.

"So, what are we gonna do with Ian?" Jimmy asked, as if he expected Michael to give him a good answer.

"I don't know what _you're_ gonna do with him. _I'm_ gonna go play baseball with my friends."

"Umm, sorry Michael you gotta stay here. Mom and dad aren't home and I've got Ian, so I have to have you here cause I can't come get you if something happens."

"But nothings gonna happen. Trust me."

"Sorry little bro, you gotta stay. But if you want they can come and hang out here as long as they behave."

"Fine, okay. But you were a lot cooler before."

Within the next hour Alice came by, knocked on the front door and was promptly let in by Jimmy. "What's going on? Aren't we gonna go out? Why are Michael's friends here?" Alice asked quickly.

"Umm, my parents and Aunt and Uncle had to go take care of something. They left me in charge. So I hafta stay here and watch everybody, and apparently that means _everybody_." He said gesturing to Michaels' friends.

"So, no date?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to take care of my cousin too. I'm really sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You didn't say anything about your cousin. He's so cute."

No sooner had she said that Ian became restless and began to cry and say things that where unintelligible baby talk. "He was fine until just now. He was just sitting there playing with his toy."

"Maybe he just needs to be held." Alice suggested. She went over and lifted Ian into her arms. But this only made him more irritable so she quickly placed him on his feet back on the floor. "I don't know, he doesn't seem to like that."

"I want mommy." Ian mumbled. He began to walk toward Jimmy.

"Hey, come here Ian." Jimmy coaxed him.

"Jimmy!" Ian exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, that's right. Come here buddy." Jimmy said scooping Ian up. Ian promptly settled down. He put his arms around the back of Jimmy's neck and rested his head on his shoulder.

"Awe, he likes you. Looks like a crisis averted." Alice said.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is he's always liked me a lot. But don't let that fool you. In a little while when he's not tired anymore, he'll need something to do. That's where we have to get creative." This took even less time than Jimmy had expected. After only ten or fifteen minutes Ian woke up again and he was looking to Jimmy to provide him with entertainment. "Buddy, can't you see I've got all these other people I have to deal with?"

"I can help; I'm really good with little kids." Charlie said, walking up to Jimmy.

"You're an only child Charlie. How do you know anything about little kids?" Jimmy asked.

"I was in the kids ward at the hospital for a long time. Some of us played with the toddlers. It's not that hard I think I know what he wants."

"Okay, have a two-year-old." Jimmy said placing Ian on the floor. Charlie grabbed Ian by the hand and led him over to the middle of the rug in the living room and sat down with him. They began to play with one of Ian's toys. When Ian got restless Charlie did things that made him laugh like tickle his stomach or make funny faces. "Wow, Charlie's definitely one of a kind." Jimmy said.

"So, what can we do since we're not going on our date day?" Alice inquired.

"I know this I gonna sound boring but I still need to fill out the form for my driver's license. So I guess I could do that now."

"Sure, sounds like a good way to kill some time." Alice replied. Jimmy pulled out an envelope and a pen, and then extracted the forms. He began filling them out.

"Eyes blue. Hair black. Date of birth June twenty-second twenty nineteen. Height five foot nine. Weight one hundred sixty pounds…" Jimmy ran off his information.

"Wait, you where only one forty five when you got your learners' permit six months ago. What happened?"

"I've been working out a lot. Since I was single I threw myself into my school work and worked out a lot. I mean, I do that anyway. But I had a lot more time to work out, so I put on a lot of weight in muscle."

"Well that's good that that what it is."

"You know I wish I was more like you Jimmy." Michael interjected.

"How's that little bro?"

"I wish I had muscles like you. I'm skinny and puny."

"Don't put yourself down like that. I won't let you. You're my brother, you can't. Besides what do you need big muscles for anyway?"

"Well I'm pretty good at baseball. But the other guys are better cause they're stronger than me."

"First of all they're not that much stronger. But that's not even the point. You don't need strength as badly as you think to be a pitcher."

"What d'you mean? It helps for throwing the ball harder."

"That's true, somewhat. But really for pitching you need height."

"Well that's nice, but I'm not that tall. I'm twelve and I'm not even five feet tall."

"Have you seen the other guys. They're all shorter than you. You're in the eighty-ninth percentile for height. When I was your age I was in the fortieth."

"So… you're not anymore. I need to get taller quickly."

"Well that's not gonna happen, not for another year at least. But I'll let you in on a secret little bro. I'm almost certain you're gonna be a good bit taller than me in just a couple years."

"How can you tell? There's no way you can know that."

"Well, actually yes there is. I've been working in a hospital long enough to pick some things up. And one thing I can say is, when your sixteen and your twelve year old brother wears the same size shoe as you, chances are he's gonna be taller than you one day."

"You really think that? Wow that would be great!"

"Yeah, little bro, I know it's gonna happen. And don't worry about it right now. You're doing great in baseball. Just keep doing what you're doing; you've got nothing to worry about."

"Thanks! I take back what I said. You're the coolest big brother ever!" Michael said hugging Jimmy quickly.

"Hey Michael get back over here." Susan said. She walked over and led him back with her hand on his backside.

"You're a really sweat big brother Jimmy." Alice smiled at him.

"You're a really nya nya nya." Jimmy said mockingly. Alice slugged him in the arm. Moments later Charlie came over carrying Ian who was once again asleep.

"He's a fun little kid. I should come over here more often." Charlie said.

"I'll bet my Aunt and Uncle would let you babysit him if you wanted."

"That's alright…here ya go." Charlie slipped Ian into Jimmy's arms. Jimmy started rubbing him on the back. He didn't wake up; however a small smile did form on his lips.

"You'd make a good father someday Jimmy." Alice noted.

"Yeah, you'd make a good father too Alice." Jimmy said obnoxiously.

"Cut it out!" Alice said, smacking him in the shoulder.

"Stop, you'll wake him up. And I'll have you know I only make fun of you because I love you."

"Awe thanks." Alice said. They leaned in and began to kiss each other on the lips.

"Hey, not in front of the kid!" Michael said, causing them to pull apart abruptly.

Hours later nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Jimmy was tired from the day of watching a house full of kids so he and Alice and Ian where all sound asleep on the couch when Jimmy's parents came in through the door. "Jimmy wake up, we're back." Lilly said shaking him on the shoulder.

"Wha…what time is it?" Jimmy moaned as he woke.

"It's almost five in the evening. Can you take Ian home?" Oliver asked.

"Sure, no problem. What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. My father _is_ dead though, if that's what you where asking."

"I'll never understand why you're always so cold about him. But I guess I wouldn't want to."

"You better get going, I told them you'd be on your way by now."

"Okay, I'm going. Wow, Alice looks cute when she's sleeping."

"Wake her up, she can't stay here all night. I'll take care of Michael's friends."

"Okay…hey Alice wake up." Jimmy said shaking her on the shoulder, she didn't stir. So Jimmy tried waking her with a different approach. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh…hey, it must be late. Wanna walk me home?"

"Sure, I hafta take Ian home though."

They walked over to Owens house. This time Alice carried Ian who couldn't walk the entire way on his own. "See he likes you just fine." Jimmy said. When they had left Ian with his parents they headed for Alice's house.

"You know we made a good team today, I like that." Alice commented.

"I'm glad we're back together. I missed you a lot Alice."

"I missed you too Jimmy." They shared a long kiss and then went their separate ways.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the fifteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**16. **__Rose is __**14. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**12.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	16. Imperfect Solution

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 16: Imperfect Solution–**

Things seemed to be going perfectly as far as Alex was concerned. He had a wonderful relationship with his girlfriend. He was doing well in school. In his head he was on top of the world. Even though he and his best friend weren't able to communicate with each other that didn't seem to affect his high spirits. But there was something that would bring him back down to earth. It was the sight of Benjamin Linus, the gloating egomaniacal jerk who had won over the heart of Rose. He was following his usual overly possessive behavior patterns. He was doing this by making sure everyone around saw that he and Rose where kissing quite vigorously. Alex drew closer to the pair. However disgusted he was by the sight of them he was, he could not avoid passing them to get to his next class. But as he got a better look at them a thought crossed his mind.

"_Since when does Rose have red hair? And since when does she wear three rings on each hand?" _Upon further observation he quickly realized the girl Ben was hot and busy with was not Rose at all. It was some other girl Alex had never seen before. _"He's cheating on her, what a pig?"_ He knew he had to do something about this. But he didn't know what. He couldn't tell Rose. She would only get mad and it was likely she would not believe him. He needed advice. So he went to Kristen who had been there for him in the past and was now his girlfriend which meant he confided in her whenever he could.

He caught up with Kristen who was by herself at the moment in the math hallway. "Hey baby." Alex said from behind. He had never really gotten past how cheesy it sounded to him calling her that, but she had asked him to, so he gladly obliged.

"Hey sweetie, how's it going?" Kristen smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"I need to talk to you about something. It's kind of important."

"You know you can tell me anything. So what is it sweetie?"

"Well I know you don't really like me talking about Rose…"

"I don't mind it as long as you don't start telling me about all the feelings you have buried inside about her. So tell me what is it about Rose that has you so bothered."

"Who said I was _bothered_?"

"Your face did. Remember you're my boyfriend; I pay attention to everything about you. I can read you like a book. Something is bothering you and you're gonna tell me right now, okay?"

"Fine, that was the plan anyway. I came to you to tell you. So, anyway, you know how I think Ben Linus is a big jerk?"

"Yeah, and I know it's cause he's dating you're best friend. But, okay, so what about his being a jerk?"

"First of all, I said 'big jerk'. I guess I should say he's 'the world's biggest jerk'."

"And what prompted that promotion?"

"Well he's always kissing Rose in public, right? Kind of marking his territory, if you can believe people still act that swine hearted. Well…I guess Ben does."

"I know all about that. You're not the only one it bothers. I'm sure her family isn't too keen on it either. And it is a little inappropriate. But they _are_ teenagers…so what're ya gonna do, huh?"

"Well that's just the thing. I saw them about five minutes ago. Only it wasn't Ben and Rose. It was Ben and some other girl making out!"

"Are you serious? Right out in the open like that? Isn't he afraid she'll find out?"

"That's what I'm saying. He's a pig. I can't believe Rose likes that guy. He could not be more wrong for her. And she's way to smart not to find out on her own."

"But it looks like she hasn't found out. So let's hope she catches on soon and dumps his sorry butt."

"But what if she doesn't catch on? What if he just keeps two-timing her and she never finds out and she just keeps dating that loser?"

"I don't know. I don't think there's much of anything you can do. You might just have to sit back and hope things turn out for the best."

"I don't know if I can. I mean, I'm dating you, and I really like you a lot. But she is still my best friend…I think… I feel like I owe it to her to make her see what's going on."

"Well I can't help you there. I told you what I think. Maybe you should try asking someone else. Like a guy. Get a male perspective on it. You know what I mean?"

"I guess so. I don't know if I know any guys I'm that close with. Rose was my only real close friend. We'll see. I gotta get to Biology class. See ya later."

Alex went to his biology class. But the entire time he could not concentrate on the class. He couldn't keep his mind off of the sight of that preening ego monster with that red headed girl.

"Mr. Rhodes, am I boring you?" The teacher said, snapping Alex out of his stupor.

"Wha-what? Sorry, no I'm fine." Alex stammered. Some kids laughed at him from behind.

On his way home Alex could not clear his head of what he had witnessed.

"Kristen, I just can't get it out of my head, I have to do something."

"Well you know what I told you. Find someone else that might be able to help you. I think you should just leave it alone. I'm a girl and I know I wouldn't want to have someone like you tell me my boyfriend was stepping out on me."

"What do you me 'someone like you'?"

"I just mean, she might not want to have her best friend tell her something like that. There's no telling how she'll react to news like that. It might not end very well for you."

"I don't know how much more of this I can keep bottled up. I have to find a way to deal with this."

"Fine, but I don't know what to tell you. So like I said find someone you think might be able to help you. I'm going home, tell me what you come up with." They split paths and Kristen headed toward her house and Alex towards his. But a thought suddenly crossed his mind as to who he was going to talk to. He had been waiting outside the hospital for over two hours, fending off angry looking security guards, when the very person he needed to talk to came strolling out the door.

"Hey, Jimmy, how's it going?" Alex asked.

"Hey Alex, not bad. How about you? Where's your girlfriend?" Jimmy inquired.

"She went home."

"Then why are you here? Do you need a doctor or something?"

"No, I needed a guy to talk to and I thought you might be the right one to help me with my problem."

"I'm really busy, so if it's something to do with school then I don't know how long I can help you."

"It's not that. It's Rose."

"As in my sister Rose?"

"Yeah. Can I talk to you about her?"

"I guess. What about her? You're almost as close to her as I am. More in some ways."

"Not lately, not since well you know..."

"You mean not since she started dating Ben?"

"Yeah, not since then."

"I don't know how I can help you there. You wanna be more specific?"

"Well, I think he's a jerk."

"So do I, but I don't get to chose who my sister dates."

"Well, I just had that confirmed today. I mean the thing about him being a jerk."

"How so?" Jimmy asked, his interest taking a big climb.

"I saw Ben kissing this girl at school today, and it wasn't Rose."

"Who was it?" Jimmy demanded.

"I don't know her. She had red hair and a lot of freckles. She was almost as tall as him."

"She sounds familiar. Did she have two earrings on either ear? And a bunch of rings on her fingers?"

"Yeah, she did, how'd you know?"

"I'm pretty sure that's my best friend's sister, Anny."

"So, how does that help?"

"Well I can tell him what's going on and see if he can do anything. Hang on." Jimmy pulled his new cell phone out of his pocket. Alex took notice of it.

"Is that one of those new holo-phones?"

"Yeah, it is. It cost me two months pay. But it was totally worth it. Sam has one too." Jimmy said as he touched a couple of commands on the screen. Then a three dimensional head warbled into existence emanating from the top of the phone. It was a red haired boy with an abundance of freckles on his face.

"Hey Jimmy, these things are so cool! I feel like your chin could stab my arm even though it's not really here."

"Very funny. Sam do you know if Anny is seeing somebody named Ben Linus?"

"You mean Roger's little brother? Not that I know of. But lately she's been really weird, all the funky make-up and the earrings and stuff. And she doesn't talk to any of us. So she could be seeing Ben I don't know. But isn't Rose dating him?"

"Yeah, that's the thing. Roses' friend saw Anny making out with Ben."

"I'd have some serious words with her. But like I said, she won't listen to me at all anymore."

"Jimmy…" Alex said, trying to get his attention.

"Hang on Sam." Jimmy muted the audio so Sam could see him but not hear him. "What is it Alex?"

"Ask him if there's anything his sister is afraid of, or anything that really turns her off." Alex said.

Jimmy un-muted the phone. "Sam is there anything you know of that really turns Anny off?"

"Ummm, she hates guys who eat meat. That's another thing; she's a vegetarian all of a sudden."

"Ok I think that's good. I'll see ya later Sam."

"See ya." The hologram of Sam faded out of existence and Jimmy placed the phone back in his pocket.

"Okay, so why did I get him to tell me that?"

"Cause I'm gonna use it to try and get her to stop seeing Ben."

"Why? I thought you hated Ben? Don't you want Rose to catch him? That would solve the problem for sure."

"I do hate him, but I don't want to see Rose get hurt. So if she doesn't find out she'll be okay. And maybe Ben will realize he's got a good thing with her and treat her better."

"I can almost guarantee that's not how it'll play out Alex."

"Well I have to do something; I can't just let him keep on hurting her like that. I have to… I just do."

"Why? Why do you have to? I'm her brother, and even I can't do anything. Maybe it'll be good for her. It'll make her want to choose better guys to date in the future."

"I can't let that happen! I just can't!"

"Why? Why can't you? She hasn't talked to you in months. You should just let it alone."

"I can't. That's all I can tell you, I can't let Rose get burned like that. I can't do it." Alex said, now fighting back tears.

"Why? Why is it so important to you? I realize she's been your best friend since you two where in diapers, but still…why is it such a big deal to you?"

"Cause…Cause I love her! There…I said it!" Alex burst out in an explosion of emotion, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

"What! Really?...well I guess I kind of already knew."

"How…how did you know? Did your dad tell you?" Alex demanded; his cheeks becoming dark red.

"What are you talking about? How in the world would my dad know?"

"Cause I kind of told him a while back. I asked him not to tell anybody."

"Okay, color me confused, but why would you tell _my dad_ and not Rose? If you love her why would you tell her dad and ask him not to tell. If you felt that way you should've told her."

"Well I wanted to. I really did, more than anything in the world I wanted to tell her."

"Then what stopped you?"

"I knew she liked Ben. And I thought if I told her how I felt she might hate me for getting in the way of her and Ben."

"Well, then that was your choice. I don't see that there's anything you can do about that now. If you chose to keep it a secret, then the best thing you can do is try to stop thinking about it now."

"What do you think I've _been_ doing! Or at least trying to, but…" His tears showed no signs of letting up, his face was soaked and his eyes where completely bloodshot.

"But what?"

"But lately she's…she's all I can think about. I'm dating Kristen and she makes me really happy. But no matter how hard I try I can't get Rose out of my mind. I love her. And after seeing Ben cheating on her… well that's just made it worse. I'm more in love with her now than ever."

"Wow. All I can say is; I'm happy for my sister that there's a guy like that for her. I just wish the _other_ _guy_ would get lost."

"Me too, I think about that all the time. It makes me feel sick sometimes."

"Well the only thing I can think of for you to do is tell her how you feel about her. And definitely tell her what Ben's doing."

"I think you're right." Alex wiped the tears from his face and went home. He was almost happy again. He had the solution to his problem. There were only a few problems. He was dating Kristen, and he did like her too much to break up with her if Rose did somehow become available. The other thought that crossed his mind was _'What if Ben manages to lie his way out of this.'_ But he knew had had to act, too much was at stake to do nothing. So when he got to school the next day he had a plan. He was going to steer Rose into a trap, a trap in which she discovered Ben's treachery. Then he would seal the deal by comforting her and revealing his feelings to her. He would sort out the fallout with Kristen later, he was sure she would understand. But then again, what kind of person would just cut a girl loose to be with another one. The answer was clear, if he did this, he would be no better than the jerk he was trying to save Rose from in the first place. Cracks were forming in his master plan and the floor was about to fall out from underneath him completely.

He was lucky enough to catch Anny by herself so he could talk to her. He had decided to compromise slightly between Jimmy and Kristen's suggestions. This way he would do the right thing with Kristen, whom he had strong feelings for and did want to see where they led, even if they led away from Rose, he was willing to deal with the hurt. He stopped Anny before he discovered any more flaws in his plan.

"Anny, can I talk to you?"

"Do I know you?" She demanded in a very rude and annoyed tone of voice.

"No, but you know how you and Ben Linus are kind of seeing each other?"

"Yeah, I guess, what do you care, you jealous?"

"No, but there's something about him you might want to know."

"And what is that?"

"He eats meat. A lot of it. You might call him a card carrying meat lover."

"Well, I can't have that. I ain't dating a guy that eats poor helpless animals."

"I don't blame you. You should break up with him."

"You're totally right, I will break up with him. I'm gonna go do it right now."

"Good for you." Alex said. Anny started to walk away to go find Ben, but she stopped less than ten feet from Alex and then came back.

"Well I don't think I need to break up with him. He's already done it. He's over there sucking face with some black haired creep." Anny said in mock disgust. Alex was about to leap down Anny's throat verbally but he turned to look and realized the girl in question, that seemed to be attached to Ben's face, was not in fact Rose but another girl. "That's Penny Scavo. She's dumber than my brother."

"Yeah, I think you're right. She probably thinks she's the only one dating him."

"Are you calling me dumb kid?"

"No, not at all. The other girl he's dating besides Penny isn't dumb either."

"They can have him. Trust me, he aint worth it."

"Hey, wait. By any chance do you know anything about Penny?"

"Like what?"

"Like anything that would get her really mad at Ben?"

"His dad drives one of those old gas cars. She's really high on that environment stuff. She might not like it if she knew about that."

"Thanks, I'll see if it works."

Alex watched Ben and Penny, every second made him feel more reviled, but he stood his ground and waited. As soon as they broke apart Ben said something to her and then walked off in the other direction. Alex caught up with Penny.

"Hey, Penny…no you don't know me, if that's what you where gonna ask."

"Yes I do, we have biology together. You looked kinda cute yesterday… that vacant stare."

"You're dating Ben Linus, right?"

"Yeah, he's great. We're going out on a date tomorrow."

"Are you sure you wanna do that?"

"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I? You have a girlfriend, so why do you care."

"I don't care. I thought you might though."

"What do you think I should care about?"

"I just thought you might want to know Ben and his family doesn't care at all about the environment. They still drive those old gas cars."

"Oh, great he's one of those. Well I'm gonna tell him, after my next class, it's over for us."

"Oh, and he's been seeing at least two other girls."

"Oh, he's gonna get it!"

"Maybe you should just stop seeing him, I heard he can get pretty violent when things don't go his way." Alex lied; he didn't want to risk Rose catching wind of things.

"I can take care of myself, he's really gonna get an ear full from me." Penny said angrily. Alex went to his last class of the day. When he got out, he sensed that he was being followed. But he couldn't figure out from where so he didn't worry about it. He was going to meet Kristen at the front of the school. He came out the side door to the school. Just as he began to round the corner of the school a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders from behind, flipped him around and slammed him against the cold brick wall.

"I know it was you!" Ben shouted in his face, spit spraying on his skin.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been scaring off my girlfriends."

"I think you did that all on your own. You're not very careful. But besides you wouldn't want Rose to find out, would you?"

"You're not gonna tell her!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Cause I'll make you sorry if you do! Besides she wouldn't believe you if you did. I've got that girl wrapped around my finger so tight she thinks I'm perfect."

"Well she'll figure it out eventually. She's a lot smarter than you. You'll see."

"Yeah, maybe I will. But mind your own business!"

Alex walked away from Ben extremely shaken. The whole encounter felt very personal to Alex. The way Ben thought of Rose came as a personal attack to him. She had been his lifelong best friend and Ben wronging Rose seemed like he was wronging Alex too. He just couldn't work out what to do about this very real problem. Ben wouldn't dare hurt him for fear that Rose wouldn't forgive him, or that it would lead to questions about why it happened. So he decided he had to tell her the truth. So for the next couple of days he mulled over how to go about doing it. On Saturday he spotted Rose on the beach by herself. So he decided it was safe to talk to her.

"Hey, Rose." He said in as cheerful a voice as he could muster under the circumstances.

"Hey, Alex, how's it going?" Rose said in a not-too-cheerful voice.

"I'm doing alright. Where's Ben?"

"He's at home right now. He has some _things_ to think about."

"Like what kinds of things?"

"Personal things. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Do I need an excuse to talk to my best friend?"

"I guess not, but we haven't seen each other in a while. I thought maybe we weren't talking or something."

"Well with you dating Ben…he doesn't seem like he wants you talking to somebody like me."

"What do you mean 'somebody like me'?"

"We've always been really close friends and he might see me as a threat."

"I doubt it." Rose replied. Alex didn't know how to take this.

"I just think you could do better."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"He doesn't deserve you."

"I like him a lot. I might even love him. And nothing you say will change that!" Rose scolded him.

"I lo…he's been cheating on you…a lot."

"What makes you think that's any of your business whatsoever?"

"You're my friend, I though you should know."

"I already knew. He told me yesterday."

"So you're gonna break up with him then?"

"NO! He promised me he was done doing that. And I told him I'd give him another chance. I trust him, he'll keep his word."

"You really think so? You are way too good for him."

"Stop it! You're just jealous. You can't stand me spending time with somebody else!"

"I have a girlfriend. And we haven't seen each other in months. How can you say that?"

"Why else would you butt into something that's not your business?"

"Cause I care about you! You're my best friend!"

"Not anymore! I can't believe you would try to break me up with Ben. I don't ever want to see you again. Do us both a favor and never talk to me again!" Rose said at the top of her lungs, she turned and ran away as fast as she could.

"Rose, I love you." Alex said quietly, no one heard. He took off running to his only place of solitude. The rock formation, miles from the main beach, was the only welcoming respite from the agony of what had just happened. He slumped down on the sand behind the rock and lay on his back. The tide splashed over the rock and soaked him through his white shirt, his thin body now showing through. He felt sad, pathetic and alone. But before long he wasn't alone anymore. Kristen came up to him with a look on her face that said she knew what had happened. She was wearing a very attractive two-piece bathing suit. In any other circumstances he would be extremely taken by what he was seeing.

"Stand up Alex." Kristen commanded.

"I take it you heard?"

"You're gonna freeze if you stay like that. Take your shirt off and wrap this towel around yourself." Kristen instructed him, ignoring his inquiry. He obeyed her, pulling his shirt up over his head, stretching his already thin stomach. Kristen hugged him tight, their bare skin pressing together. Again, Alex knew that had the situation been different he would have felt quiet hormonal at the moment. She kissed him on the forehead and wrapped her towel around him and began rubbing his back over the towel in an attempt to calm his frayed nerves. He didn't move at all, he was rigid and frozen to the spot. To try to calm him down further, Kristen moved in behind him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, over the towel, and stretched up slightly to let her chin rest on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know what happened. I wasn't that far down the beach. Everyone heard. So you might wanna lay low for a while. People are going to gossip."

"I'm sorry. You were right. I shouldn't have said anything to her."

"I think you did the right thing. You did what you always do. You showed that you care about people more than yourself a lot of times. That's why I like you so much."

"Can you forgive me? I mean I like you so much, but sometimes I can't hold those feelings I have deep inside, those feelings for Rose."

"I can forgive you. But I do find it hard to accept that I'm dating a boy that's in love with a girl, and it's not me. And that he may never feel that strongly for me. But I'm willing to wait, and maybe someday you will feel like that about me."

"I'm glad you understand. I think if, like you said, you give it some time, I could fall in love with you. There's no reason I wouldn't. I'm really lucky to be with somebody like you. So… I'll do my best to keep Rose out of the picture… since she doesn't want to see me again…ever."

"I'm sure she'll get over it eventually. But just so you know I'm glad I'm with you too Alex." Kristen said as she pulled him around to face her. The kiss was short and sweat, and turned into a long, silent hug. Some of Alex's soul had been irreparably damaged today. On the other hand his feelings for Kristen had been strengthened even more.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the sixteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**16. **__Rose is __**14. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**12.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	17. Something's Gotta Give

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 17: Something's Gotta Give–**

It was nearing the second half of the summer. Jimmy, now close to seventeen, was forced to think of things in a more mature manner. He had to think about things he didn't necessarily want to have to consider.

"Jimmy, you know we have to talk about it sometime." Alice called out from behind.

"Why's it gotta be now?"

"Why not now? Now is perfect!"

"No it's not. I have the day off and I just want to relax and enjoy the beach, is that too much to ask?" He said as he shed his shirt on his beach towel. A few girls walking by took notice of him and tried not to stare. Alice reciprocated by abandoning her own shirt. She was wearing a two-piece bikini that made it hard for Jimmy to look her in the eyes.

"Up here big guy." Alice said, grabbing his very pointed chin and tilting his face upwards.

"Sorry. Can we talk about this later? Please?"

"Fine, but you know we're gonna have to talk about college sooner or later. It won't go away."

"I know. I know."

What Jimmy was worried about was the fact that he and Alice where going to be studying entirely different things in college. He would most likely be heading off to a college where he could study to go to medical school. This would mean he would be referred to as a "pre-med" student. On the other hand Alice was pretty sure she would be best suited as a teacher. Jimmy had found this rather amusing since his mother was a teacher. And as usual his father had made a rather embarrassing comment saying that _"Oken men seem to be attracted to the same kind of women." _All of this would mean that eventually Jimmy was going to have to face the reality that he and Alice would be going to separate colleges and wouldn't be seeing much of each other. This meant they would have to consider breaking up and hoping they could get back together later on down the road.

"Hey Jimmy isn't that your brother?"

Jimmy gazed over at where Alice was looking. He saw a long haired boy who was now almost half a foot taller than his other friends and thinner than all but one. Michael was walking down the beach with his friends Susan and Robbie Stewart, Charlie, and a girl Jimmy didn't recognize.

"He never seems to be able to hold any weight. He's gonna be a six-foot tall string bean when he's my age."

"Give him a break. He's adorable. And so what if he's skinny. Not everyone's got to have a body like you." Alice ran her hand over his chest.

"Look who's talking." Jimmy said, running his hand over Alice's thigh. He attempted to kiss her, but she moved her face and consequently her lips out of his reach.

"That girl he's with…"

"Who says _he's_ with her. They're _all_ with her."

"That's what they all think. But I know what's goin' on."

"Well, then clue me in. I don't seem to be seeing the same thing you're seeing."

"Well Michael's walking in front of her right now. Look, you can see she's got a big grin on her face."

"It's not that big."

"Well, it's enough you can tell she likes what she sees."

"So…how can you tell that? She could be smiling at the bracelet he's wearing."

"That's a diabetic alert bracelet for if he gets taken to the hospital." Alice quipped.

"So you think she's into my little brother?"

"Yeah, you can tell she's checking him out cause every time they're side by side she loses the smile like she doesn't want him to see."

"Well if she was attracted to him she'd want him to see it, right?"

"They're almost thirteen. At that age it's still a little embarrassing. Oh, see now she's in front of him and…"

"…And he's the one smiling now. You don't think he likes her, do you?"

"Well if you catch them kissing…you know…the way everybody found out about us…then you'll know."

"But there's no way! He's always liked Susan. Or at least that's what it seemed like. I mean when he was in the wheelchair she was the one he wanted to see more than anyone. But maybe…"

"Yeah, maybe things change. Maybe over time people start to realize they like different people than they thought. Wait and see. I bet he'll surprise you."

"I know he will. I wouldn't say this to his face, but Michael has always been a really special kid. And I don't mean _duuhr_ special. I mean, I've always known he could do whatever he set himself to do. He's really great at baseball. And he's at least as good a surfer as I am. Don't tell him I said that. So there's no reason he can't…"

"Get any girl he wants. You're right. He's a real catch. He's really funny. He must get that from his big brother. He's got a smile just like you too."

"My sister does too. You know it sounds like you've got a little crush on my brother. Should I be worried?"

"What do you think?" She didn't give him time to answer before she kissed him on the lips.

Alex and Kristen seemed to be walking on eggshells as far as their dating relationship was concerned. Even though he was trying especially hard to be a good boyfriend to Kristen, Alex seemed more and more out of focus when it came to her.

"We need to talk Alex." Kristen said plainly.

"About what?" Alex feigned ignorance.

"You're a smart guy, you tell me."

"I know, you're still upset about that scene between Rose and me a while back."

"It's not that and you know it. I told you a million times I'm not holding that against you. You where just doing what any good friend would do, you where looking out for her."

"Ok, then what is it we need to talk about."

"You know perfectly well. We haven't been on the same channel lately. You're focused more on the girl you _wish_ was you're girlfriend and less on the one who _is _your girlfriend."

"That's not true. Haven't I been taking you on dates every weekend? Haven't I paid lots of attention to you?"

"Yeah, we've been on a lot of dates recently, but I think that's just you trying to hide the fact that you can't get Rose out of your head. You thought you could, but it's just not working out that way."

"What are you saying Kris? Are you saying you've had enough, and you want to break up with me?"

"I don't really want it to come to that, but if it keeps going this way it's gonna end up happening."

"Well, what do you want me to do? Stop being friends with Rose? Cause that already happened; she hates me and won't ever talk to me again."

"I want you to be as close to me as you wanted to be with her."

"I'm not even sure I know what that means."

"I want you to love me. Cause I think… at least I thought I was starting to fall in love with you Alex."

"I want to… I really do…but…"

"You can't. That's what I thought. I'm really sorry you feel that way."

"So, you're breaking up with me then?"

"I think you just did that yourself."

"Wow, I thought we'd be stronger than this."

"Well, I guess not. I never really had a chance. You knew that from the beginning, and so did I."

"So, can we still be friends then?"

"I think so." She began to tear up.

"Don't cry. It'll be okay. There'll be ot…" She cut him off, pulling him into a kiss. It was a very strong and sensual moment. They both felt the feelings at this moment, that they knew weren't meant to be and wouldn't last.

"Well I guess I'll see you around Alex."

"See you…"

Rose came downstairs at nearly noon to be greeted by her mother.

"Why aren't you out with Ben right now?" Lilly asked.

"He's out with 'the guys'" Rose said, a look of indifference on her face.

"When's the last time you two where on a date?"

"I don't know. I couldn't tell you. I've been asking him out lately. Isn't he supposed to be the one doing that?"

"You would think that, wouldn't you?"

"Still, he's a great guy…" Rose only partly seemed to believe what she was saying.

"So are you finally gonna tell me what happened with you an Alex? It's been two months."

"Why not? He saw Ben was cheating on me."

"Ben was doing what now?"

"We worked it out."

"You really think so?"

"I hope so. But anyway, one thing at a time okay?"

"Alright. I wanna hear everything."

"Well Alex came to me right after Ben and I had a fight about him…and other girls..."

"…And you where down and Alex telling you what you already knew felt like him rubbing salt in the wound. So then what happened?"

"I kind of told him to never talk to me again. I think I might have really hurt him. I hope he'll forgive me…"

Lilly could see what was going on in her daughters' mind that she wouldn't admit. The feelings she wouldn't put out in the open. "Oh, honey, I'm sure he'll get over it. But you might want to help him do that."

"How do I do that?"

"Well, you need to get him by himself and talk to him and tell him you're sorry for what you said to him."

"The getting him alone part might be hard. He's got a girlfriend and they're going out on dates all the time."

"Well, when the time is right, you'll have the chance to make things right."

"Thanks mom. What should I do about Ben? Things were going great but now, ever since that thing with Alex, I don't know anymore."

"I don't know what's going on inside your head. But I think you'll know the right thing to do when you think it's right."

"I think I do."

"Need any help figuring out what how to do it?"

"No, I think I know."

The next day Jimmy and Alice met in their usual spot on the pier for lunch. "So you wanna talk about college?"

"What brought you around to it?"

"I don't know. I guess I just realized you were right. We will have to talk about it eventually."

"Okay. So what do you want to talk about then?"

"You were the one that wanted to talk about it before, you tell me."

"I'll just get right to it then. Obviously there's a good chance we're gonna be going to different colleges. So there's that."

"What about it?"

"We'll it means we might have to…break up…a little."

"What for?"

"What do you mean 'what for'? Cause we'll be too far away from each other."

"So we'll have a long distance relationship."

"You really think that would work?"

"There's always the chance we'll go to school really close to each other."

"We both know the school you'll be going to won't be anywhere near the one I will. We've both done the research. Or at least I have."

"I don't really wanna talk about this. Nice weather we're having?"

"What if we try to get back together after college? I can teach somewhere close to the med school you get into. I'm sure that'll work out fine."

"But what if I end up going to some med school far away, like what if I get into the big one, Johns Hopkins? That's in Maryland."

"Then I'll go with you. Why wouldn't I?"

"Cause that's a long way to go just to stick around with your boyfriend, right?"

"It's not too far considering I love you."

"It's really a lot to ask of you."

"Well, it's not like we could just not go to college so we didn't have to be apart."

"No, that's not gonna happen. I just wanna figure out a way not to have to break up with you. Cause I love you too. And what if?..."

"What if we meet other people?"

"Well, I know I won't. You're the only one for me. But I know I must be replaceable."

"Oh, come on Jimmy. You know better than that. I tried dating another guy once, remember? And the whole time I wanted to be with you."

"But there's a difference. You actually dated someone else. I focused on being a better person so you'd wanna take me back. I didn't even think about trying to see another girl. Sam and Andy told me I should, but I could even imagine it."

"I left him pretty quickly. I mean we did date for a while. But it didn't take me very long to realize you're the one."

"Well, I think we've talked about that enough, don't you?" Jimmy said, now ready to change the subject.

"I guess so. But isn't there anything else we can talk about?"

"So why do you want to be a teacher anyway?"

"I've always been pretty good around kids. Not babies. I mean school-age kids. People always tell me I've got what it takes to be a teacher. And I think they're right. What about you? Why do you want to be a doctor?"

"I've always been really fascinated by the way things work in hospitals. And I was there a lot when I was younger. What with diabetes related things and other stuff. Another thing since I've been working in the hospital I've learned that to be a good doctor you have to be cool under pressure."

"Plus you're really smart."

"Yeah, that too. But I've taught myself not to release my anger. I put it to good use. It focuses me. They say it's important to be like that if you want to be a doctor, or take up medicine in some other way."

"That's great. I'm glad you've got everything in focus. I don't know if I can say the same for me."

"I might be wrong but it seems like this whole time there's been something on your mind. Am I right?"

All of a sudden Alice broke into tears. There was no warning, except possibly for the fact that she had seemed distracted. Jimmy moved closer and pulled her in till her face was up above his chest and she could cry into his shoulder.

"What's going on? What's wrong?"

"My brother's moving out."

"I'm so sorry. You guys where really close. This must be hard for you."

"You'd think it would be easier. He's been away at college for most of the last four years. But he's always been so great to me. It's just hard to believe he'll be even farther away. I guess I know how you feel about us going to schools so far apart."

They sat there for a long while. Jimmy held Alice tight in his arms. Every once in a while he whispered into her ears "Everything's gonna be alright. You'll see."

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the seventeenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is nearly __**17. **__Rose is nealy __**15. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are nearly __**13.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	18. Breaking the Ice

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 18: Breaking the Ice–**

"Hey mom, guess what I did on Thursday?" Rose exclaimed happily.

"I don't know baby, what did you do?" Lilly replied.

"I did it. I broke up with Ben."

"I'm proud of you. I really am. I never liked that boy anyway. But, why'd you do it all of a sudden?"

"It wasn't all of a sudden. He's had it coming for a while now. Turns out he was still seeing other girls behind my back. And he was taking drugs to help with sports. I just knew I couldn't be around all that anymore."

"Plus, you knew you deserved better, right? You didn't have to put yourself through all that just for a boy you probably don't even like anymore."

"That's right. I don't have to be around all that."

"So what are you gonna do now? Throw yourself at your school work, right?"

"Yeah, mom. I always do that. You know I got an 'A' on that last test, right?"

"Yeah, uh-huh." Lilly said doubtingly.

"But there's something else I have to do. Something I need to fix. It needs to be as soon as possible."

"Okay, well you go take care of whatever you think you need to do."

Rose made her way outside and removed her phone from her pocket. She made the call to the one person she knew she needed to talk to more than anyone else. She spoke softly and carefully.

"Hey, I need to talk you. It's important. Meet me in a little while and we can walk down to the beach together. Please, it's important. I really need to talk to you." She ended the message and replaced her phone in her left pocket. Without noticing it, she nudged a button on the phone and it vibrated slightly.

Michael, who was now thirteen years old, and significantly taller than his three friends walked down the hallway in Sea View Middle school with one thing on his mind.

"I gonna ask her out. Just watch me." Michael said, with a world of confidence in his voice.

"Are you sure about this?" Susan asked him, more than a little disbelief in her voice.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Cause you've been puttin' the moves on her for months now and you two still haven't said more than a few words to each other." Robbie said.

"Well, I'm gonna go for it."

"Well make it quick, we have practice in five." Charlie reminded him.

"Be right back. Just sit back and see how the pros do it." Michael said, walking off with a cocky smile on his face.

"So you really think he's gonna do it?" Susan said.

"Looks like it." Charlie replied.

"He's been talking about asking Anna Visitor out for weeks now. I wouldn't count on it." Robbie said.

"Well there he goes he's talking to her. Or at least I think he is." Susan said.

"Why's she giving him that look?" Charlie wondered out loud.

"Oh, he's saying something else." Robbie observed.

"I don't think it's going too great." Susan said.

Moments later Michael came scampering back over to them. He did not look happy. But someone had to ask the question that was on all of their minds.

"So, how'd it go Mike?" Robbie asked unwittingly.

"It went…it went… I don't know how it went, really."

"What do you mean you don't know how it went?" Susan demanded insensitively.

"I started talking and nothing really came out the way I planned it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Susan asked.

"I just started babbling at her kind of. I don't know what happened. I kept trying and she finally just told me to leave her alone, that I was freaking her out."

"Yeah, you do have that effect on girls sometimes." Robbie said.

"Well thanks a lot." Michael retorted.

"Hey, it's not so bad there'll be other girls." Charlie consoled him.

"Let's go or we're gonna be late." Robbie reminded them. They began walking outside towards the street. The baseball field was on the opposite side of the road from the school building.

"Think about it Michael, there are plenty more chances for you to hit it off with girls. You're only thirteen. Anna isn't the only girl there is. And who knows? Maybe she'll come around. Or maybe you can try talking to her friend Lisa, she seems nice." Susan told him. They began to cross the street when a car came zipping by them. No one could miss the loud crunch it made as it passed within inches of them.

"Wow, we really got lucky there!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Dang flabbit! Connfoundit! Of all the…! !" Robbie screamed out in pain.

"What? What happened?" Michael called out to him.

"That dang car…it ran over my feet!" Robbie yelped in pain.

"Ok, ok. I think I know what to do. We hafta sit him down. He can't try to walk on his feet." Michael told them. He and Charlie walked up in behind Robbie and put their arms under his armpits and carried him over to the sidewalk and lied him down.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Susan said. They waited for less than five minutes. But the pain made it seem much longer for Robbie. When the ambulance got there two women came out of the back doors and strapped Robbie onto a stretcher. They attached temporary casts to both of his feet. The rest of them piled onto the bench on the ambulance across from Robbie and rode to the hospital with him.

"Everything's gonna be fine." Susan said as they moved Robbie into a room. They were all standing around the sides of Robbie's bed.

"Yeah, remember when I broke my back and they thought I was gonna be in a wheelchair forever?" Michael said. Charlie clutched his stomach from a sudden onset of pain. But no one took notice, so he kept it to himself, even though a tide of worry washed over him because the feeling was very familiar. It went away quickly enough, so he thought nothing of it.

"Yeah, but I bet since you couldn't feel anything, it didn't hurt this much." Robbie said wincing from the pain. They were now bringing him into a hospital room.

"Hey, watch it!" Susan said. A doctor came in and began to examine Robbie's feet.

"We'll have casts on in no time. For now I'm gonna have the nurse give you a pain killer." The doctor said. Another man came in beside the doctor and injected something into Robbie's right arm.

"Ooh, I feel better already." Robbie said, his expression becoming somewhat hazy.

While the attention was focused on Robbie, Michael was left to his own thoughts which he couldn't help but let creep back into his head. That look Anna gave him just wouldn't fade from his mind. All of a sudden he collapsed to the floor. His whole body began seizing. His shirt tore open in the front where a few buttons popped off. He had recently had significant growth spurt and the baseball uniform which he had neglected to replace, was too small for him, due to his greater height.

"I've got him. Kid, you'll be fine. I'm gonna get you some help." A nurse said.

"He's had this happen before you really need to help him." Charlie yelled to the nurse. Another doctor came flying in through the doorway.

"What's happening?" He asked the nurse.

"I don't know he just started seizing. I'm holding him till the seizure wears off." Michael's body began to relax after a few more moments. That's when they took notice of how thin his stomach was.

"He looks malnourished. When we get him in a bed he needs IV nutrients." The doctor stated.

The nurse scooped Michael up and placed him in the bed next to Robbie's. A lot of attention seemed to be on Michael now and not Robbie. Someone was just now pushing an extraordinarily large man in a wheelchair and passed by the doorway.

"You know, normally it takes two people to push him. But since you got here…you seem to get all the muscle jobs."

"Well, I do what I can. It's no problem as long as I… hang on I gotta go."

"Wait what are you doing, I can move this guy on my own. There's nobody else here to help me."

"My brother's in this room. I have to see him!" Jimmy yelled back to the intern.

"Doctor Proctor, what happened to my brother?"

"This is your brother, Jim?" Dr. Proctor asked.

"Yeah, what happened to him?"

"He started seizing. And we noticed how thin his is. So we're giving him IV nutrients."

"Why?"

"We figured he's malnourished and that's why he collapsed."

"Why would you say he's malnourished?"

"We measured him at five foot nine inches and only one hundred nineteen pounds."

"Well he's diabetic just like me. He just had a growth spurt I think. And that's probably why he's so thinned out. He's never been as good at keeping weight on as me. But it hasn't been a problem in a while."

"Well it seems to be now. But…nurse don't place that IV. He's diabetic. He needs an insulin shot."

"Jim call your parents. They need to be here."

"Yes, sir."

Fifteen minutes later Lilly and Oliver burst into the room "We got here as fast as we could. What's going on?" Oliver demanded.

"We think Michael had a diabetic seizure." Jimmy said.

"Is he okay?" Lilly asked, panic filling her voice.

"We don't know yet." Dr. Proctor told her.

"Dad, where's Rose? Didn't you say you where gonna get her to come with you?" Jimmy asked his father.

"We don't know where she is. We tried to call her. But her phone was off. She told mom something about needing to go do something important after school."

Robbie was being taken to an operating room for his casts.

"Okay, we're gonna get started with an exam on Michael now. But first we have to sedate him." Doctor Proctor said.

"What? Why do you need to put him under? They've never had to do that with us before." Jimmy asked knowingly.

"I'll explain later. I'm glad you seem to take such a great interest in medical procedures, Jim."

Michael was still perfectly still. "Alright, I'm just going to put this big needle in his arm and…"

"Wait stop! You don't hafta do that!" Michael jolted upright.

"Why ever not?" Doctor Proctor asked, feigning bewilderment.

"Cause I'm not really sick!" Michael insisted.

"Really? But you just had a seizure." The doctor said.

"I was faking it. I promise, I was."

"Why would you do that?" Jimmy demanded.

"Cause, I don't know…"

"Maybe cause you wanted attention and they were too focused on your friend. Does that sound about right?" Jimmy suggested.

"Well, it sounds really bad when you put it that way." Michael said, softly and embarrassed.

"How else is it supposed to sound?" Lilly piped up.

"I'm sorry. No TV or computer for a month, right?"

"Two months!" Oliver said crossly.

Hours later Alex was sitting on the cement wall between a parking lot and the sands of the beach, alone with his thoughts, and his legs dangling over the wall. He was silently watching the sun as it showed the first signs of setting. He was thinking of his latest emotional triumph. Even though he and his girlfriend Kristen had recently broken up they were still friends in a good way. But more prominent in his mind was the fact the he was convinced that his obsession with Rose was finally over. He had finally managed to get over her. The realization that not succeeding with Kristen had brought was that he really needed to get over Rose. And unknowingly he had managed to do so. But he had now consciously realized what had happened. He wasn't sure he was alright with this development, because until now he had held out hope that someday there would be something great between the two of them. But he now knew that was impossible. So at this moment he knew he had moved on. She had called him earlier and told him they needed to talk. He knew this meant she still wanted to be friends, or something was still remaining unsaid that she needed to get out before totally severing ties with him forever. So he told her where he was and remained there waiting for what seemed like forever in a relative emotional and physical calm. Time seemed to be lagging on forever. The occasional beach dweller passed him by. Warm, comforting, peaceful bursts of wind whipped all around him as the tide splashed in down on the beach. Alex closed his eyes and took in the utter bliss of his surroundings. He was in love with the moment he was in and hoped it would never end. For if it did then perfection would end, because that is what he felt at the moment: blissful, peaceful, comfortable, wonderful perfection. But it did end, only slightly though. A hand touched his shoulder. He didn't look to see who it was. But he could tell just by the soft, gentle touch and the small feel of the hand that it belonged to a female. His assumption was affirmed by a sweat and pleasant voice that came from behind him.

"I thought you might like some company." The voice said, sounding soothing and forgiving.

"Maybe I do, why don't you stick around and find out?" Alex said without looking at her, for he knew who it was. She sat down next to him. Very close. Too close for anyone else but this very person.

"I wanted to talk to you. There was something. I can't quite put my finger on it. But there's something I need to say." Rose broke the silence quickly.

"Well, if you don't know what it is, then why are you talking to me?" Alex wondered aloud.

"Why shouldn't I talk to you? I am your best friend, you know?"

"Are you? It sure didn't seem like that lately."

"Well I am. Let's go for a walk."

"I just wanna sit here right now, I was really happy just sitting here." He didn't really want to risk too much contact with Rose at the moment. His feelings about her where still frayed from the outburst they had had. He wasn't sure if things could ever get back to normal between them. But he had a feeling he was about to discover the answer.

"Come on, don't make me beg you!"

"But why? I thought you never wanted to talk to me again."

"Well, I realized how stupid that was for me to say that to you." They kicked off their shoes simultaneously and walked down to where the tide ended on the sand and started walking down the beach.

"How long have you been thinking that?"

"Since about five seconds after I said it."

"So then why haven't we been talking all this time?"

"Cause I was really mad when you told me about what Ben was doing. I already knew, and having my best friend tell me was humiliating…it meant other people had found out. I didn't want people thinking less of me cause that was happening to me."

"But you know everybody likes you. How couldn't they?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just really confused. And Ben, I don't know why I ever even went there."

"Cause you liked him and he was really great for you at first."

"That's true, but after a really short while it became a mistake. And I was stupid enough to keep going out with him. It went on way longer that it should have."

"You're talking in the past tense. Does that mean it's not still going on?" Alex asked curiously.

"I broke it off with him a couple days ago. I just told my mom, so it's still privileged information, okay?"

"Yeah, alright. I won't tell anyone. But just for the record, you should be proud of what you did. He didn't deserve you, not even a little. Anyone that's willing to do that to you isn't worth it."

"You're absolutely right. I'm glad I did it. But you know, not all boys are like that." Rose was thinking of one boy in particular but she didn't want to say it to Alex. "Speaking of which, how are you and Kristen Bauer doing? You two are really cute together." Silently Rose was thinking only of how handsome Alex looked walking next to her. She resisted the impulse to hold his hand because she was almost certain he would pull away, due to all the ugliness between them recently.

"We stopped seeing each other a couple weeks ago."

"Oh really, how come?"

"I don't know. It just wasn't working."

"Really, that's not usually how you operate. You always seemed to make things work. You're always so upbeat."

"Well, it was just something silly…I don't really want to talk about it, if that's alright." He knew it wasn't something silly. It was due to his inability to get over Rose which he had just, somehow, been able to do. But all that was now starting to come undone again.

"I heard you where trying out for the Malibu surfing team. Maybe we can try out together." Rose said, trying to stay talking even though there still seemed to be a lot of tension between the two of them. She quickly realized this question may not have been a good one to quell the anxiety they were both feeling.

"I don't wanna be rude or anything. But what makes you think I want to do anything with you? We're not exactly close anymore. You really hurt my feelings, it's gonna take me a while to get past that."

"I know I was really stupid to say what I said." Rose repeated. Inside Alex wished she would stop saying such things about herself. "But I was hoping we could patch things up by being around each other again, instead of being apart. I really hate being apart from you. We where such good friends…"

Alex knew things could never be the way he had once imagined them being. After the damage their relationship had suffered, he and Rose could never be more than just friends, and maybe not even as close as they once had been. It was quite disheartening for him, but it was something he would live with.

"I mean, it was never all on you."

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked cautiously.

"I mean, I should have been more tactful in trying to tell you about Ben."

"Enough about Ben, I could go a lifetime without hearing his name again and I'd be happy."

"My point is, I went against my better judgment, and the advice of my girlfriend when I told you that stuff. I knew it would probably end our friendship forever, so I should have kept my mouth shut. I knew you were smart enough to figure it out on your own. So it's my fault we're not friends anymore." He explained. Rose stayed quiet for quite a while, which seemed to confirm his statement that they were never to be friends again. But in the silence and the calm of the night, Alex could not help but notice how beautiful Rose was, with her olive green eyes and her dark brown hair glistening in the setting sun. Not to mention the slight crop of freckles on the upper part of her cheeks. He staved off the urge, several times, to put his arm around her waist and hold her tight like the precious being she was. Rose finally broke the silence once more.

"We could never stop being friends completely. It's not possible. To tell the truth, I couldn't stand staying mad at you for so long. It was too long. It should never have been like that." Rose uttered. Alex was still having a hard time piecing together his fragmented feelings for Rose.

"Well for my part of it I'm sorry." They stopped walking and faced each other. "So you think we'll be okay?...Eventually?" Alex asked warily. Rose hesitated to give an answer because at the moment she didn't know if she really had one. But as their eyes made contact she knew the answer, she knew they would be more than just okay.

"We'll always be okay Alex. We should never let each other drift apart again." Rose said. This was starting to sound a little strange, to Alex, for a renewal of their friendship. But he just went with it.

"Do you think we'll ever be as close as we where?"

"How can we not be? We'll always be close. As close as two friends can be." Rose said softly. The breeze that blew over them brought Alex comfort and the realization that things could go back to normal. But it would likely never be anything more than that. So he began sealing those thoughts away once more.

"I'm glad Rose. I'm glad we could work it out."

"So am I. You know what? I think I figured out why it was I wanted to talk to you so badly." Rose said, a rush of joy flooding through her.

"Really, what was it?" Alex asked, expecting something along the lines of the conversation they were already having.

"Well I suppose it's something I've always felt, but I never really realized it till now. I don't know why. It's so obvious to me; I don't know how I didn't realize it already."

"I'm not sure I'm following, what do you mean?" Alex asked, not even considering what might be obvious to others. A smile grew rapidly on Roses' face. She looked into his eyes and spoke.

"I love you Alex."

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the eighteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**17. **__Rose is __**15. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**13.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	19. You Don't Have to Look too Far

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 19: You Don't Have to Look too Far–**

"_I'm glad Rose. I'm glad we could work it out."_

"_So am I. You know what? I think I figured out why it was I wanted to talk to you so badly." Rose said._

"_Really, what was it?" Alex asked._

"_I love you Alex."_

"What did you say?" Alex asked, bewildered. He had just heard the three words he had been hoping for Rose to utter for the majority of his life. He wanted to be sure it wasn't his imagination playing a cruel trick on him. He had imagined it happening enough times that he was surprised he hadn't starting believing it was a reality a long time ago.

"I'm sorry, Rose. Did you say you love me?" Alex repeated, disbelief lacing his voice.

"That's exactly what I said. And I meant it too." Rose said a little louder than the first time. The ocean breeze was becoming stronger, but not to the point of being unbearable. Alex stood in one place staring at Rose, but saying nothing. She was the most beautiful person in the world to him, and he could barely even comprehend the beauty of the moment he was in. The moment he had waited so long for.

"Say something Alex!" Rose exclaimed, now appearing slightly embarrassed as if she feared her feelings were not reciprocal with Alex's.

"I…love you too. You…you have no idea how long I've wanted you to know that. I love you Rose Oken." Alex stammered slightly, but there was warmth and passion in every word he articulated.

"So…if you've felt that way for so long, why in the world didn't you tell me?"

A million things flooded into his mind. A million reasons as to why he should have told her the truth, but never managed to succeed. But he didn't want to fill this very perfect moment with any negativity.

"I wanted to so many times. You have no idea…but you where seeing someone else and…well I tried once but it…" He didn't have the chance to finish a sentence that had no logical ending. Rose put her arm around his shoulder before sweetly and supplely locking her lips with his. The kiss was the most amazing sensation Alex knew to have ever experienced. There had never been the types of feelings he was experiencing now, when he had kissed Kristen. He was in total bliss. He knew now he was most certainly in love with Rose and it would always stay that way. He quickly reciprocated Roses' action by wrapping his hand around the back of her small neck and pulling her in tighter. By his actions he intensified the passion of the kiss and the feelings of the moment. When they pulled apart, several minutes later, they looked into each others' eyes with enough love to light up the world. Alex looked down into Rose's beautiful emerald green eyes. She looked so breathtaking; he knew the moment was much more captivating than he had ever though it would be. Rose looked up into his hazel colored eyes and detected only the most heart throbbing emotions from him. But what she also noticed where tears in his eyes.

"Why so sad?" Rose prodded.

"I'm not sad, I'm just crying cause…this…this thing, it's like all of a sudden it's been lifted from me. I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy but… I've wanted to tell you I loved you for so long and it just killed me inside not to be able to…but now…you're so cute you know?" Alex smiled through his tears, accidently changing the course of the conversation. Rose couldn't help but smile. He was being cute with her and not even trying. Which was something she had never experienced with Ben, he had been all "business". Rose tickled him playfully in the stomach.

"You…you…are…my only…" Alex was cut off again, this time from trying to be sweet with her. Rose jokingly pushed him; he landed on his back in the water. He was now soaked from head to toe. Playfully, Alex got to his knees and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her down on top of him. She was now drenched as well. They lay down on the sand, their bodies below the waste still in the water, and kissed each other fervently. They pulled apart and just looked at each other, for what seemed like hours, without a word. They say that once you get the love you crave, you may not love that person at all. This was not the case for Alex. He could not be happier or more in love with Rose.

"So, do this mean we're…you know…dating?" Alex wondered aloud.

"I'm pretty sure there's no way we couldn't be. So, you're my boyfriend, Alex…wow, I really love you."

"Me too, I'm so glad you're my girlfriend. I love you so much."

They lay there on the beach, talking for quite some time. In that time Rose discovered that Alex was much different than he had been when last they spoke in depth. He seemed much more free spirited and on top of his world. He was much less childish and somewhat of an old soul. She now knew that was from the heartbreak, he was now revealing to her, of not having been able to express himself until now. He had been forced to heal his wounded soul by disposing of some of his childlike emotions that would have taken the average person well into their adulthood to lose.

"You seem…so different Alex."

"A good different, I hope…right?"

"Of course. I meant…really mature. I feel so different with you than I did with Ben. This must be the way a girl is supposed to feel with her boyfriend. It's like I feel…free, I feel happy all over. I feel like you would never…no that's not true. I know you would never do anything to hurt me. I trust you more than… than even my own brothers." Alex knew this was a strong statement because Rose had a very close bond with her brothers, more than most normal siblings.

"Wow, so you really love me?"

"I know, isn't it great, we're in love. You know some people say true love isn't real, and no matter how hard you try and no matter how far you look, you'll never find it. Well, I never believed that. And it turns out I never really had to look too far to find it."

"I knew it all along. You've always been such an amazing person to have as a friend. And now…girlfriend."

"I guess I knew all along too…I've always known you where a really special person. And now I'm realizing it goes even farther than I thought. I love you…"

"I love you too."

The next day Sam, Alice and Jimmy got together on the board walk of the pier.

"So I'm gonna start track next week, and I'm the captain of the team." Jimmy remarked.

"Sounds like fun Jim. Any news about college this fall?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but don't you have news about that too?"

"We think you should go first with that." Alice said, a little sheepishly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just…let's hear about you first…okay? Please?"

"Okay, fine I've been accepted at UCLA. I decided I'm definitely going there cause they have the best pre-med program in California."

"That's great Jim, so you're gonna be a doctor. So maybe you can help me figure out what's up with all these freckles." Sam said, smiling.

"You're a red-head, it's natural. Duh!"

"I know…I was kidding. So…"

"So…Where are you guys going? It better be close to UCLA, I don't wanna be too far away from you. You said something about Cal Tech Sam?"

"Yeah, well Emily is going to ULA." Sam said, his face turning red. He had a very easy to spot tell. Due to the pigmentation of his skin, Sam would blush whenever he was deceiving someone.

"I don't care so much where your girlfriend is going. Where are you going Sam? And what about you Alice?"

"That was really insensitive. Way to care about your friends lives." Alice stabbed.

"I am caring. So come on tell me where you two are going. It's killing me."

"You have no idea." Sam said part way under his breath.

"What's that Sam man?"

"I said, what's the big idea?"

"The big idea is: I've told you where I'm going. Now you tell me."

"Okay, Jimmy…where both going to University of California at Berkley." Alice answered reluctantly.

"What? Berkley! That's six hours from UCLA! You can't!"

"Sorry. But we both want to be teachers, so that's the best place to go." Sam replied.

"Are you sure you can't go somewhere closer to me?"

"I wish it weren't this way."

"So, what are you saying? Are we breaking up?" Jimmy stammered.

"I guess so, at least temporarily." Alice said.

"Temporarily? It'll be four years before we graduate. Then another four before I'm out of med school. And who knows where I'll be _going_ to med school?"

"I think we're strong enough we can be away from each other a lot, see each other on holidays…"

"That's if we can manage to get back here."

"Yeah, but then when you go to med school I can teach near wherever the med school is."

"You really think you'd move away with me?"

"Oh yeah, Jimmy I love you. We're together for life as far as I'm concerned."

"I hope you're right cause I'm not seeing anyone else in college. I know that."

"We all know that Jim. You're gonna be spending you're next four years at college studying to study another for years at another college." Sam interjected, giving Jimmy a look.

"Well thanks a lot guys, lots of support…" Jimmy commented sarcastically.

"It won't be hard to wait for you, I love you too much Jimmy." Alice said.

"Anybody sad for me? Em and me have to break up. We where together for… three years."

"Sam, that's really sad too. But you don't sound like you're gonna do any waiting." Jimmy replied.

"No we both agreed we could see other people. So…"

"So, yeah, that's that." Jimmy finished for him.

Sunday came and with it came Alex and Rose's first date. They walked down to the beach together, hand in hand.

"Well it's our first official date. It feels good to say that." Rose remarked.

"You have no idea." Alex replied, smiling brightly.

They stopped at a beach-side restaurant where Alex treated Rose to dinner. Afterwards they started to dance. As Alex held Rose close he whispered charming things into her ear. Just as the sun began to set they kissed, but only slightly.

"I love you Rose."

"I love you too Alex."

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

_** This is the nineteenth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**17. **__Rose is __**15. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**13.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	20. Goodbye for Now

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 20: Goodbye for Now–**

"You know there's only a few days left of summer Jimmy?" Alice asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yes, I know perfectly well summer is almost over. So what?"

"So we need to have _the talk_."

"'The talk'?"

"Yes, you know, about you and I separating during college, which happens to start next week."

"What's there to talk about? We both agreed we would hold out and wait for each other. And we'll see each other as much as possible. You know visits, video chats, you name it. So what's the big deal?"

"I just wanted to make it official, we're not dating anymore."

"So what are we doing then?"

"We're a couple separated by half a state. That's all. So we won't be able to go out on dates or anything."

"So then how do you want to do this?"

"Well we can make it official now. Maybe we'll see each other before we leave. Okay? Does that sound good to you?"

"It works…I guess."

Two days later Jimmy, Alice, and Sam met one last time on the board walk.

"So this is it, huh?" Sam said solemnly.

"I guess so." Alice replied glumly.

"Remember every chance we get, we're going to see each other Alice. And that goes for you too Sam."

"Man I'm starting to have flashbacks. Remember that time when we where eleven and we were on a campout and…" Sam began to recall.

"And you fell asleep and took a nose dive right into the camp fire. I jumped up and yanked you out before you even knew what was going on. Yeah, good times man." Jimmy said with a slight laugh in his voice.

"And remember all those fights you got into? Wait…that might not be a great thing to bring up." Sam cringed.

"Yeah, actually it is worth mentioning. I remember there was the one in ninth grade. Well… the last one in ninth grade. I was such a hothead back then. Anyway, Andy Corelli, who just seemed to get bigger and bigger every day. He tried to grab me from behind and throw me to the floor. He ended up almost pulling off my shirt, and everybody saw all my fat."

"Dude, you where never fat, you where just a little on the chubby side back then. But it went away." Sam said, correcting him like any good friend would do.

"Speaking of your shirt almost coming off, there was that time we were in the Stewarts house I think, during an earthquake. We fell on top of each other and your shirt came up. They thought I was trying to take your shirt of and make out with you." Alice said, blushing a little bit.

"That was awkward. Cause they didn't really know we were serious back then." Jimmy said, blushing as well.

"And of course when we where twelve and I first realized I liked you. I talked you into kissing me under the board walk. Even then you were a good kisser."

"And you where better. I said I didn't like it, but that's only cause I was twelve and it was embarrassing."

"You guys can't forget all those times we messed with Mr. Connor in homeroom. He was convinced we were all insane. Like the time we got everybody in the class to pretend they were dead. We cracked a beaker with some liquid in it. Then we all slumped down in our chairs and played dead. Some of them where even hanging over the front of the lab tables. And the fake face blood from the drama kids put it over the top. It was worth the weeks' worth of detention." Sam laughed.

"Yeah, that was always hilarious. But who says we're not insane?" Jimmy said. Just then his phone vibrated. He activated the audio call feature and listened for a minute, then hung up.

"We'll it's that time. I have to go finish packing." Jimmy told them.

"Yeah, me too." Alice said.

"Me three." Sam joked. Sam and Jimmy hugged each other goodbye.

"I'll miss you Sam I am." Jimmy said, using a joke from their childhood.

"I'll miss you too big Jim," Sam retorted, "I might see you just a little tomorrow."

Jimmy and Alice shared a short kiss, and a warm, tight hug.

"Remember, I love you Jimmy."

"And remember I love you too, Alice."

That night when all of the packing was finished the Okens sat down at the kitchen table to talk. It was a bittersweet conversation, but one that had to take place.

"So my son's gonna be a doctor." Oliver said, smiling with pride.

"And your other son's gonna be a pro-baseball player." Jimmy said.

"You could be right Jimmy," Lilly said, "But right now it's about you."

"Well, just so you know Michael, I'll go to every one of your games, if you do make it pro." Jimmy said.

"You're such a great big brother Jimmy." Lilly smiled.

"And Michael is a great little bro, aren't you little bro? Well I'm not sure I call you 'little bro' for much longer, by the time I come home for Thanksgiving you'll probably be taller than me."

"So you're definitely gonna try to visit us a lot Jimmy?" Rose asked.

"That's the plan. By the way since we're on the topic of what we call each other, you guys think it would be alright if I go by 'Jim' from now on, instead of 'Jimmy'? You know since I'm going off to college and all. I wanna feel more grown up." Jim asked, hoping they would just go along with it.

"Well sure, I think we can all live with that, _Jim_." Oliver said with a grin.

"Since he's going with 'Jim' now, I'm gonna try out 'Mike', okay?" Mike inquired.

"Okay, so Jimmy, I mean Jim is going to college, Michael is now Mike, so what other changes are there?" Lilly wondered aloud. No one said anything. But Mike was holding back a little secret of his own, that due to his excitement, he would not be able to keep a secret for long.

"One thing I'm still wondering, Jim, is how strong you are? Cause you're always showing off. So I gotta know." Rose said.

"I am not always showing off. Besides, how are you planning on finding out?" Jim asked, subconsciously flexing his very large right bicep muscle.

"See if me and Mike arm wrestled you together, who would win?" Rose suggested.

"You're on little sis." Jim declared. Mike who was now several inches taller than Rose, and had bigger hands clutched his palm to Jim's palm.

"You haven't got a prayer little bro." Jim boasted. Rose gripped Jim's wrist directly below his hand.

"Alright let's do this thing." Jim stated. Rose and Mike both began to push against Jim's superior strength. He made a face that suggested he was struggling to hold up against them. His muscle rippled from the force he was applying. As they got his hand close to the table Jim relaxed his face and pushed both of their hands in the opposite direction onto the table.

"Are you kidding me?" Jim said sarcastically, a grin of triumph on his face.

"Wait so you where just stringing us along the entire time Jimmy?" Mike said, bewildered.

"Exactly, Michael. I could practically bench press both of you at the same time. It wasn't even close with you two. Sorry little bro." Jim said.

That evening Jim was brushing his teeth while wearing an undershirt and sweat pants when Mike walked into the bathroom.

"You know, I wish I was as strong as you Jimmy."

"No you don't. It's not that big a deal."

"Well, okay, maybe I don't wanna be as muscular as you but I wish I could get a little muscle. All I am is skin and bones. Pretty soon I'm gonna be this tall, skinny, awkward freshman. People are gonna make fun of me."

"No they're not, you're gonna be the most awesome kid in Malibu, now that I'm not gonna be here. Everybody likes you, you don't ever hafta worry about that. You know I used to be really chubby, nobody ever made fun of me for that. The only guy that could have ever done that was ten times bigger than me at the time, and now he's my friend. Trust me you're fine."

"I'm not so much worried about people making fun of me. It's just that I never really got the hang of this whole diabetes thing. I've always been a whole lot thinner since it happened. And I've never been able to change that. Now that I'm taller, even Charlie's not as skinny as me. And he's always been that way. I know he had cancer. But he got to a healthier weight after that. I never did, after the whole diabetic attack. I mean look at me, I'm a stick. It's terrible." Mike said, lifting his shirt up to reveal his incredibly thinned body.

"Okay you're gonna hafta deal with that. You are way too skinny. Here's what you do. You try to increase your calorie intake, and balance your insulin with it. Get mom and dad to help you work out a system. Trust me, it's worth it. If I wasn't leaving tomorrow I'd help you do it. But you _will_ keep me updated about this. If you don't make any progress I'll be forced to come home and deal with it. You don't wanna take that heat for that do you little bro?" Jim said sternly, but in a very brotherly manner.

"No, guess not. I guess I don't have a choice. I'm gonna hafta fix this."

"You're right. You don't have a choice. Besides having to face my wrath, if you don't deal with it, you're gonna start having real problems. You might start blacking out, you'll be tired all the time, and all sorts of other really nasty things."

"Speaking of feeling bad, Charlie has to sit down all the time when we're all out doing stuff. He won't admit anything's wrong but we all know there is. Today we had to walk him home from practice early."

"So that's why you where late helping us pack?"

"This is serious, Jimmy. Like I said, he looks healthy in the weight department. So it's not that. Any ideas?"

"I'm not a doctor, I'm not even a pre-med student until Monday, but I think he might just be overtired. But he probably needs to see his doctor cause it could be more serious. If he doesn't seem like he's keen on that idea, you and your friends might wanna stage an intervention, you know go together and talk to his parents. He's a cool kid; you don't wanna see anything bad happen to him."

"Sounds like a good idea, maybe I'll try it."

"First you and your friends should confront him. See if he'll do it without the intervention. Cause for all you know, he may just not be getting enough sleep. But if he's really defensive about it you might wanna talk to his parents like I said." Jim said as they both walked out into the upstairs hallway.

"Jimmy, I'm really gonna miss you after tomorrow. I'm already starting to miss you and you're not even gone yet." Mike whispered.

"I miss you already too little bro. Don't tell her this but I'm gonna miss Rose a little too." Jim whispered back.

"Let's try to remember all the good times. Like when I was two or three and you used to take me to the park to feed the ducks. And how you taught me to surf. And all the help you gave me when I was in the chair."

"That's not the best time, little bro, the chair. We did get a little closer as brothers, but I think the real milestone in our relationship as bros was, as sad as it sounds, when we both got diabetes. It brought us really close. I don't ever wanna lose that with you little bro."

"I don't think that'll ever happen. I mean we'll always have diabetes. And Wilford Brimley III will always say it 'Diabeetus'."

"Hah, yeah. But I meant we'll never lose that connection. We're a lot closer than most teenage brothers that're four years apart in age. We're really cool with each other."

"Yeah, that's never been a problem, not really. But you're right, us both of having 'diabeetus' helped." They both laughed quietly.

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning." Mike said, he walk off in the other direction. As Jim moved toward his room, Rose came out of her room, which was next door to his.

"I'm gonna miss you too Jim. You've always been a great brother." Rose whispered.

"What do you mean 'been'? I'm always gonna be."

"True and we've always had a lot of fun."

"Speaking of fun how was your date with Alex today?"

"Amazing. He's the best boyfriend in the world."

"Modesty was never really yo' thang, was it?"

"Yeah, not really."

"You know, I'm really proud of you, dating Alex. He's always been good to you. He's perfect for you. You couldn't possibly do better."

"You wanna know something? I'm in love with him."

"I don't doubt it. Isn't it great?"

"The best. Umm, see you in the morning."

"See ya."

Jim turned and went into his room. His eyes closed and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. He slept in his bed for the last time as a permanent resident of the Oken house.

"Jimmy, Jimmy, wake up Jimmy!" Lilly Oken yelled up to Jim who was trying to sleep through her beckoning voice.

"I'm… I'm up." Jim said groggily, his eyes jolting open.

"Jimmy, you need to get dressed where heading out to your school in a half an hour." Lilly told him.

"I'm going to college mom; I'm not saving the world, I think it'll still be there when I get there even if we don't leave in exactly thirty minutes. And I asked you to stop calling me that." Jim said.

"Fine, JIM, get dressed and get downstairs and help us pack your things into the moving van." Lilly responded.

Jim Oken pulled on an undershirt and a pair of shorts. It was a hot today and he was going to be doing a lot of hard work moving his things into his college dorm room. He jogged down the stairs to where all of his things where gathered together to load into the moving van that his father Oliver had just backed up to the back door. He turned around as his beautiful fifteen year old sister Rose walked down the stairs.

"All that eye make-up makes you look desperate Rose." Jim teased her.

"I liked you better when you had long hair!" Rose said.

"That was five years ago." Jim replied.

"I know, you where cooler then!" She stabbed back at him.

"You where ten, we were best friends then, and you thought I was superman." Jim said, as he hoisted two very heavy suitcases under his especially muscular arms, trying to prove he still was superman.

"Show off!" Rose exclaimed.

"Less talk, more work you two." Oliver said as he entered the room.

"Nah, you're still cool, I just liked the long hair!" Rose said.

"Thanks little sis!" Jim said.

"You guys are too petty!" Mike said as he tripped on the bottom stair coming down.

"You're not the only one that can lift things Jim, see!" Mike said lifting two empty plastic crates onto his shoulders.

"Impressive, Mike!" Robbie Stewart commented, Jackson's son, with a smile as he entered in front of his father. The crates began to slip out of Mike's grasp and fell to the floor. Behind Robbie was Alex, Rose's new boyfriend. Everyone in the house approved of him much more than her first boyfriend, they knew him, and knew he could be trusted. He had come to help them pack Jim's things into the van. But everyone knew that was just a pretense to see Rose. He was going to have to wait until the evening came to see her again when she got home. As he walked into the living room Rose met up with him and they kissed lightly on the lips in greeting.

"You're such a dork Oken!" Susan Stewart, Miley's daughter, remarked, smiling at him, as she walked in with her mother.

"I told you when they where little, that crush Mike and Susan had was just a phase, and I was right!" Miley said as she walked in.

"Don't be so sure Miley. That's how I was towards Oliver when we where thirteen." Lilly said.

They slowly but surely got everything into the moving van. Jim hoisted most of the heavy things into it. Mike was careful with everything he carried. So he managed to only break a few light bulbs. Of course they all gave him a hard time.

"Michael can you grab that last bag and then we'll be done." Jim said to him.

Mike did as he was asked and then they were done loading his brother's things. As it was time to go a somber mood fell over them. For the Okens it was their brother or oldest child, he was leaving them for the longest time he had ever been away from them. And he wouldn't be back again. At least not in the way that they were used to. He would no longer be living with them. He would be home for the holidays of course, unless he wanted to stay with new friends he met at school. For the rest of them it was a great friend, leaving them, which they had come to know and love over the years. They knew they were going to miss him. What with his power workouts and his cool attitude, and his ability to be there for any one of them whenever they needed him.

"So how are you gonna make it without your girlfriend, Alice?" Rose teased Jim. Mike made a mocking pouty face at him.

"Very mature you guys! I already said goodbye to her. We both agreed we'd keep in touch and we'd be together whenever we could." Jim responded maturely. No one said anything because they knew it was a sensitive line of discussion. They all prepared to part ways. The Okens were all going to see Jim off, so it was time for the rest of them to say goodbye to him.

"Good luck Jim, I'm glad you didn't turn out to be a donut like your dad." Miley said as she hugged him.

"Hey, I heard that!" Oliver whined.

"You'll make a great doctor, Jimbo!" Robbie said giving him a one armed hug.

"Make us all proud Jim." Jackson said, shaking Jim's hand.

"You've always been such a special person; I know you'll make lots of good friends in college." Marlene, Jackson's wife, said.

"We all love you Jim, make sure you visit lots. I'll try not to pick on your brother too much!" Susan said as she stretched up and hugged him.

"You have to call whenever you can Jim!" Sam said. He was going to a different college, which was half a state away, so they wouldn't see much of each other over the next four years. The Okens all piled into the cab of the moving van. Mike slipped and fell out and had to hold back tears. He didn't want to look weak or something. They didn't speak much on the trip up. But when they where only ten minutes or so away Jim spoke up.

"So, Michael, you're gonna do you know what about you know what? Right?"

"You mean getting Charlie to see a doctor about all his fainting. Yeah, I'm gonna do that."

"That too, but I meant the other thing." Jim said, giving his brother a look.

"What other thing?" Lilly demanded.

"He'll tell you later." Jim informed her.

"Okay, fine."

"Speaking of things I need to tell. I've been waiting for the right time to say this. Umm… I've got a girlfriend." Mike said, only half certain he wanted to say it out loud.

"What? Really? Way to go!" Oliver said.

"Tell us about her. What's her name? What's she look like? And how long have you been seeing each other?" Lilly questioned him, not so politely.

"Her name is Kate Austin. We have homeroom together this year. She's got green eyes and black hair. We've only been out once. So… that's about it really."

"That's great little bro. Wish I'd gotten to meet her." Jim said.

"We're here. Everybody get out." Oliver said as he pulled into a parking space in front of the dorm building. When they got to Jim's dorm room they were all ready to get out of the van. It had been a long ride getting there. Once again when Mike went to get out of the van he slipped and fell onto the curb. It took them a solid half hour to get all of Jim's things into his room and put them where they belonged.

"I talked to housing before we left, my roommate won't be moving in till some time on Monday, so I guess you guys won't meet him. I don't even know his name." Jim said as they went back outside. And after a brief tour of the campus it was time for the Okens minus Jim to go home. Lilly cried as she hugged her son goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you so much Jimmy… uhh Jim. You have to stay in touch with us a much as possible. Call us every night before you go to bed, ok?" Lilly said through light tears.

"I won't. But I will try to call every weekend or send home a video message, for a while at least, till I get used to life here." He replied with a pretend macho attitude, when really he was fighting back tears too, because he was going to miss his family and everyone back in Malibu. Rose spoke up next.

"Don't do anything too crazy, but have some fun." Rose said hugging her older brother.

"Be safe and be cool, Jimmy!" Mike said to him.

"You too, little bro." Jim said giving Mike a big hug.

"Make us all proud, and remember you're Smokin' Oken! By the way I think those girls that walked by where checking you out." Oliver said, and then he hugged his son. Jim blushed and shrugged it off.

"I'll see you guys soon." Jim said, as they piled back into the van. He watched them go, and then retreated back into his new home. He wondered to himself, as he sat alone in the kitchen, if this was somewhere he'd find he belonged.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**-This is not the final chapter. As I said, this will go past the ending of "Meant To Be" (which was part of this chapter). There are several chapters still left to come (3 or 4) before the end. The next two chapter's (21 and 22) will be posted at the same time. So please do not get discouraged if they don't get posted for several weeks, they are special chapters and need a lot of effort to write (I try to do this with all chapters, but these are extra special). **

**-I would like to thank any of the people that have stayed with this story all this time, and hope you will stay with it to the end. I have enjoyed writing this story, and hope anyone reading it enjoyed it too.**

_** This is the twentieth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**17, nearly 18. **__Rose is __**15, nearly 16. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**13, nearly 14.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	21. I've Got Somewhere I Belong

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 21: I've Got Somewhere I Belong–**

Jim sat bored at his desk on his side of the dorm room. His family had only left three hours ago but it seemed like only minutes had gone by. It felt like it had all just happened within the last few moments. He had just made the biggest change in his life. He had moved away to college. It was the start of a new and exciting life for him and he couldn't wait for it to begin. But before any of it began he had to wait out the weekend. It was only Saturday evening; classes didn't start until Monday morning. In the mean time he had to decide what to do with his time. He had figured on getting to know his roommate. But the housing department had informed him that his roommate would not be there until sometime on Monday. So for now he was all alone. There was no one he knew to talk to. A few people he knew from Sea View High school where in other dorms on the other side of the campus. Unfortunately they where people he hadn't known too well. But that might have to change. Quickly he decided it was his goal to make at least one new friend at college this semester.

In the meantime he continuously tapped a section on his cardboard thin computer screen to see if anyone was online. So far neither Sam nor Alice was signed into their video chat accounts. This meant either they were still busy putting things where they belonged in their respective dorm rooms, or they had had more luck finding things to occupy their time over the weekend. He understood why Sam may not have called yet, he was his best friend but he was still not in that big a hurry to jump onto his computer. The reason for Alice's absence on his screen was as yet a mystery. As he sat there at his desk in a sweat covered undershirt and jean shorts he thought of things to do to pass the time. He looked at a picture, sitting out in no logical place as of yet, of he and his brother standing on the Malibu beach in swim trunk, both of them with one hand on their surf boards and the other hand around each others' shoulders. Mike was short and thin with a huge smile, and Jim was several inches taller with a little bit of an oversized belly. He looked to be about eleven and Mike was only around seven years old. _"Man he's grown up a lot since then, he's probably grown since I saw him three hours ago…or was it four now. And man was I porky back then."_ He thought to himself, looking at his now largely muscular body. He checked his computer for what seemed like the billionth time, but to no avail. There was still no one else online. So he went to the universities website and began to fill in his health forms, for lack of anything else to do.

"Let's see name: Oken, James Oliver. Date of birth is June twenty-second twenty-nineteen. Eye color is blue, hair color is black. My height is five foot ten. I weigh one hundred-eighty pounds. I guess all those workouts pay off…" Jim recited out loud. He was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from the computer. There was a message balloon at the bottom of the screen that read _"Incoming video conference call from Sam Brooks and Alice Greenwood, do you wish to accept?" _

He immediately touched an area, in the touch sensitive key area that only reacted to the finger print area of his fingers, to activate the call. Due to a fairly recent development in internet chat technology, Sam and Alice's full bodies warbled into holographic existence as if they were both sitting right next to him.

"This is so cool Jim! Right Alice?" Sam commented in amazement.

"I'm not so sure, it feels weird with you two sitting there glowing like that, and I can almost see through you." Alice said a look of disorientation on her face.

"So what have you two been up to?" Jim asked, hoping it was more exciting than health forms.

"Well my roommates and I were trying to check out the…um female situation around here. No offense Alice." Sam said, blushing.

"Why would I be offended? I have a super hot boyfriend; he doesn't do that, so why should I care?" Alice retorted.

"And I have an awesome girlfriend who happens to be beyond hot. So I'm not doing that." Jim commented.

"We'll good for the both of you, having each other and all that. But in the mean time, me and Rudy, and Jeff are all free agents. So don't judge me." Sam snapped slightly.

"Hey, no need to get so defensive. We were just reassuring each other." Alice told Sam.

"So are your roommates pretty cool Sam? I only have one and he's not even here yet." Jim stated.

"Yeah they're pretty cool. We're going out to find a pizza place later…but just so you know, so far you guys are way past them in coolness."

"What about you Alice, what's the roommate situation?" Jim asked.

"I've got one roommate. Her name is Lisa. We're in some classes together so that's cool, right? We might go out later and find out where things are." Alice told them.

"Sounds like you guys are having fun. I'm all alone here. I figured I'd wait to do the exploring until I had someone to explore with. Hopefully he's a cool guy, like your roommates. Any ideas what I can do till then?" Jim hoped in the form of a question.

"What do you usually do when you're bored?" Sam asked, as if he didn't know.

"Well you know, I usually work out when I'm bored. So, if we come home for thanksgiving and I look like 'The Hulk' you'll know I was really bored." Jim joked.

"Hah, okay. I'm sure you'll be fine Jim. It's only been a few hours. You have no idea what kinds of things you'll get into. Trust me; it's not gonna be all sitting around waiting for classes to start. Or who knows maybe that's the way you like it. You are going to eight years of college, what with med school and all." Sam said, failing to ease Jim's mood.

"Listen guys, I'm sure I'm not the only one that's tired from the move. I need to get some sleep. How about we pick this up tomorrow?" Jim suggested.

"Sure thing man."

"Love ya Jim." Alice chimed in. Jim watched as Sam and Alice's fingers reached out, pressing some invisible button that only they could see, and they both faded out of existence. Jim proceeded to flop down on the bed, lying on his back, and position his hands behind his head. He was indeed tired and therefore it was not a difficult task to fall asleep in his new bed. Most of Sunday Jim spent looking over his text books while doing one-armed push-ups and looking at the map of the campus trying to make sense of where he was supposed to go for his classes in the morning. The first excitement came the next morning when it was time for his first class. It was a class that was designed to introduce students to the pre-med program and help them get the hang of things. When he got into the classroom the professor was waiting for all the students to get settled down.

"Hello I'm Doctor Lisa Cuddy, I'll be teaching you for this intro to pre-med class, as well as several courses down the road. So most likely you'll all get to know me well. I'd like to get to know you all by having you introduce yourselves and tell me a little about why you want to practice medicine. We'll start with you." Dr. Cuddy said pointing to a girl in the front row who promptly explained that she wanted to be a doctor because her whole family was in the medical field. After several other students told the class about themselves it was Jim's turn.

"Well my name is Jim Oken, I'm from Malibu. And I guess I would have to say the reason I want to be a doctor is because of my brother. Not because he and I both have type one diabetes. It's because of something that happened to him when I was twelve years old. He was eight at the time. He was playing around with his friends when he fell and broke his spine. We all thought he was going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life. But four or five hours from now he's probably going to be heading out to his high school baseball field. We all saw it as a miracle that he recovered. But my point is, when I saw how the doctors worked and the way they handled him, I knew I wanted to be able to do that some day. I'm not sure I knew right at that time that meant becoming a doctor. I think when we were both being treated for diabetic symptoms, that's when I knew it meant I wanted to be a doctor. But my brother is my reason; it all comes back to him."

"Very well put Mister Oken. Very inspired. Now, who would like to go next?" Dr. Cuddy asked the class.

The rest of the day went smoothly. All of the classes on the first day where used to get acquainted with how things were going to go the rest of the semester. Jim was fascinated with all the things he was about to learn about, and the things he would learn how to do in the future. His last class of the day was the real source of excitement though. It was a class designed for students to learn basic hands-on procedures. Unfortunately for Jim, he was a little lost at this point, so it took him a little while longer than he expected to reach the building where his last class was. When he got there all but one table was filled. There were only two seats left at the table. Jim took the one on the left, leaving the right one empty.

"Looks like you're the only one left without a practice partner. My name's Fred by the way." Another student said to him.

"Jim, Jim Oken. So what do I do since I don't have a partner?"

"Don't worry about it; I think yours is just in the other room going at it with the professor." Fred told him. Just then a guy came in, with a familiar decorum to him, arguing with the professor. She did not seem to be taking it well either.

"The procedure is sound, you're understanding of it is what's not solid. I'm the doctor and you're the pre-med student. So why don't you let me decide what's a valid procedure." The professor said heatedly.

"All I'm sayin' is if there's so much dang blood you're fixin' for trouble, that's for dang sure." He fired back in a country drawl.

"Why don't you just sit down?" The professor said irately. The student gave her a look that said he didn't want to obey.

"How 'bout this: Sit down or I'll make you sit down." The professor shot at him forcefully, partly mocking his southern accent. The student reluctantly obeyed. He sat down to the right of Jim, and perched on his chair with an expression of frustration.

"You know, if you're gonna be a doctor, there's gonna be a lot of blood, it's just the way it goes." Jim offered his opinion to the student.

"Don't pander to me kid. Y'all fresh from the beach, you don't know what yur talkin' 'bout."

"'Kid'? What are you…maybe six months older than me at the most?"

"So what? I call everybody kid."

"Why don't you call me by my _name_ instead? It's Jim by the way. Jim Oken."

"Leonard McCoy." The student responded.

"Nice to meet you Leonard."

"Sure it is!" McCoy retorted. Jim could tell right away he and McCoy weren't going to get along, which would make all the classes they had together all the more difficult.

"You know, chances are we're gonna be working together here a lot so it might not hurt if you tried getting along with me." Jim suggested.

"Anything's possible. I'll give it a shot." McCoy responded.

Several hours later, after the professor explained what they would be doing during this period, Jim and McCoy where paired up on a simulated model of a person that could be set to have any number of medical complications. Today's scenario was a basic one.

"Jim quick he's circling the drain, use the paddles." McCoy said.

"Don't be such a smart-mouth McCoy. Oken you need to apply chest compressions before it's too late." The professor scolded McCoy.

"That's what I thought." Jim said under his breath. But during all the confusion caused by McCoy, the Simulated Patient became too far gone.

"It's too late, he's dead Jim!" McCoy commented.

"That's a brilliant observation." Jim snapped back.

"Don't worry Oken; it's only the first day. You'd have gotten it if you weren't distracted. Your turn McCoy." The professor said.

After the exercise was finished the class period was over. It was now time for Jim to return to his dorm. What he found to be strange was that McCoy seemed to be headed in the same direction. When he got to the front door of the dorm building he swiped his ID card in front of the magnetic security lock which promptly unlocked the door. McCoy followed him in. When he reached the door to his room he found it rather disturbing that McCoy was still behind him.

"Wait; are you in one-twenty-three?" Jim asked him.

"Sure am, is that you too?" McCoy replied.

"Yeah, come on in." Jim said, a little somberly. He turned around to face McCoy.

"So you're my roommate?" Jim asked in slight disbelief.

"Looks like it." McCoy answered.

"Great, fake patients that die, and a roommate named Leonard." Jim commented.

"Got a problem with it kid?" McCoy stabbed at him.

"No, I was just trying to be funny."

"Not tryin' real hard, where ya'?"

"Guess not. So, Leonard…"

"Call me McCoy."

"Okay, McCoy. You wanna get outta here and find out where things are?" Jim proposed.

"Sounds like a good idea." McCoy answered back. For the next several hours they walked around and found the best places to eat, and places to find entertainment. When they got back to the dorm room they were both tired. So they took turns changing in the bathroom and then got into their respective beds and went to sleep.

Weeks later Jim was feeling much more at home, like he belonged. He had found a new friend in the form of McCoy, even though he had a very short temper to him, and a dry wit. Jim was even doing very well in his classes. He was doing especially well in his practical exercises class where he seemed to be the go-to guy when someone didn't know a procedure. Jim had seemingly mastered all of the techniques taught to them as yet. Today was a day where they were doing final practices before they were tested on a number of procedures. This had Jim's mind floating, and his concentration was slightly off.

"Jim we need you over here you're the only one that can do this. Come on, I saw you do it the other day. Show us how, will ya?" McCoy beckoned to him. It was nice to feel valued by the other students, it made him feel valid, and significant. He had always been smart, but this was different. This made him feel like he was going to make it big. But he made sure not to let it get to his head…too much. The best feeling he got was that he really was somewhere he belonged, and hours away he had somebody he loved.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**-This is not the final chapter. As I said, this will go past the ending of "Meant To Be". There are several chapters still left to come (2 or 3) before the end. **

**-I would like to thank any of the people that have stayed with this story all this time, and hope you will stay with it to the end. I have enjoyed writing this story, and hope anyone reading it enjoyed it too.**

_** This is the twenty- first chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**18. **__Rose is __**16. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**14.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	22. I've Got Somebody To Love

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 22: I've Got Somebody To Love–**

Jim hadn't had the chance to make it home over the Thanksgiving break. So when he we got home in a few minutes for winter vacation, it would be the first time he'd seen his family and friends in person for about five months. He was growing impatient as the train he was riding made yet another stop. He had received over a dozen calls from Sam asking him where he was since he had boarded the train in Los Angeles. There had been at least twice that number of calls from Alice. So most of the ride had been spent telling them he was on his way and there was nothing he could do to get there any faster. But that didn't seem to make the calls come any less frequently. He didn't mind this, for if they didn't keep it up he would know something was wrong. One reason that motivated their calls was something neither of them had said directly, but Jim knew there was something they wanted or possibly needed to tell him. As the train pulled closer, on its magnetic rail, to Jim's stop, he pulled on a cold weather jacket to prepare for the hostile temperature that would great him when he stepped onto the platform. Moments later when train screeched to a smooth stop Jim collected his suitcase and moved out onto the platform with all the other passengers. He had figured on having to search for his friends who were waiting for him eagerly. But alas they had already found him. Alice bounded toward him, wearing a pink cap and other cold weather apparel that only made her look cuter. She made it to him in a split second and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug.

"I missed you so much Jim. There's so much to talk about. I can hardly wait." Alice exclaimed happily.

"Good to see you Jim, how's _your_ college life been so far?" Sam said, giving Jim a one-armed hug.

"It's unbelievable. I have to tell you guys all about it. Sounded like you guys had something you wanted to talk about. Wanna spill it now?"

"Not right now. It's no big deal. It can wait. There's somebody else that's been waiting to see you." Alice replied, a little awkwardly. Just then Mike came up and hugged Jim. At that very moment Jim noticed something, something peculiar but not unexpected.

"Michael, we're the same height! Can you believe it?" Jim exclaimed.

"Umm, actually I'm half an inch taller than you Jimmy." Mike corrected him. Jim took a good look at his brother from head to toe.

"You know what? I think you might be right. Way to go little bro!" Jim patted Mike on the shoulder. When they reached the parking lot of the train station Jim loaded his suitcase into the trunk of Alice's car and they headed for the Oken house. On the way they made conversation.

"So Michael how's it going with you and you girlfriend? Kate, right?" Jim asked, interested.

"She's cool, she came to all my fall practice games, and she said she'll come to the real ones in the spring." Mike answered.

"That's cool. I remember you guys came to most of my track meets." Jim said to Alice and Sam, who for some reason hesitated to respond and looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Yeah…that's true…track meets…" Sam stammered.

"Okay, what's going on with you two?" Jim demanded from the back seat, next to his brother.

"It's nothing we need to talk about right now, trust me Jim, it's not." Alice informed him.

"I'm just letting you know, I'll get it out of one of you eventually. The one with the weaker will." Jim told them, indicating Sam with his eyes. This only made the unease become more apparent.

"So Michael, how's it going with that thing we talked about? It's been a while since you told me anything about it." Jim said breaking the forced silence.

"I thought we were gonna keep that between you and me and mom and dad?" Mike said, perturbed.

"We are, Sam and Alice won't say anything, you can trust them. Right guys?" Jim asked, intentionally asking them things to try to break them down and get them to reveal whatever it was they were hiding from him.

"Right."

"Of course." Alice intoned. They both sounded like something was dying to get out.

"So, what's the story on that front Michael?" Jim asked once more.

"I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. I'm almost a hundred and thirty pounds now."

"That's up from one oh eight? How close is almost?"

"One twenty-two." Mike said, a sheepish smile on the right side of his face.

"That's what I thought. But you're making good progress. That's what counts."

When they pulled up to the house Jim could see his family through the frosty windows. He lugged his suitcase in through the front door and the rest of them followed in behind him. As Mike pulled off his jacket Jim noticed that he had indeed started to reach a healthier and less risky weight. On the other hand when he pulled his jacket off and began to place it in the closet his mother made an observation along the same lines.

"Jimmy have you been eating? Please tell me this isn't what it looks like." Lilly commented in a wholly indiscreet manner.

"I don't know mom, what does it look like?" Jim said, feigning ignorance.

"It looks like my baby hasn't been eating enough. Have you been taking your insulin? You know I have to deal with this when it comes to your brother and your dad, but you…I've never had to worry with you!" Lilly said worriedly.

"It's not that mom. I know I've dropped a few pounds, but that's okay."

"No it's not okay; I don't want you wasting away on me."

"I'm not mom; it's only a little weight I could've stood to lose anyway. I'm just not a big fan of the food in the dining hall, and I've been really busy studying." Jim replied, hoping his excuse would be accepted. And to his disbelief, his mother reluctantly surrendered the argument.

"Fine, but you have to make sure it stops, okay?"

"I will mom, I will."

A girl stood up beside Alice and spoke up.

"So when are you two gonna introduce me to your _best_ friend?" She said to Alice and Sam.

"Okay then," Sam said, "Jim this is Ellie Jones, she's a friend of ours from school, she's staying with Alice over the holidays cause her family is in Florida and she can't get down there right now. Ellie this is Jim Oken, the smartest guy I know."

"Nice to meet you Jim," Ellie said shacking his hand, "He's a hunk Alice, good job."

"Thanks El, he's all mine, remember that." Alice replied.

"Oh, for sure. So since he's so smart, I'm guessing he's already onto Sam and your little secret?" Ellie asked unknowingly.

"No, he doesn't know. He knows something's up, but he doesn't know what." Alice said, irritated.

"Okay guys, time to tell me what's going on." Jim insisted.

"Okay, but let's do this outside." Alice told him.

"Fine, let's go, this better be good, it's freezing out there." Jim said, grudgingly. He, Sam and Alice all put their coats back on and walked out into the back.

"So what's the big secret you two have been choking on ever since the ride here?" Jim inquired.

"Umm, I don't know how you're gonna take this… we wanted to figure out how to make it right before we came forward with it…so." Sam muttered.

"Well you could start by telling me what it is." Jim repeated himself.

"Promise you won't get mad?" Sam pleaded.

"I'll try. I don't usually overreact." Jim responded.

"Uhh, you reacted to Andy Corelli cheating off your test by punching him in the face." Sam reminded him.

"Yeah, that was six years ago. I'm a totally different person now. So give it a shot, okay?"

"I don't know how you're gonna take this…but here it goes…Sam and I accidently kissed." Alice blurted out.

"Come again?" Jim said in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Jim, really it didn't mean anything." Sam said desperately.

"I can't believe this. You promised, Alice." Jim said under his breath.

"I know, and I am so sorry. It was an honest mistake. We where both up studying and we got tired and it just happened. Can you forgive me? Please?" Alice said, almost begging.

"You know what? Yeah, I can forgive you. You know why, cause that's the kind of guy I am. And besides that I owe you for letting go of it when you where mad at me for all that fighting. I believe you both. It was an accident. I can just pretend it never even happened. Just promise me this: it's never ever ever gonna happen again, right?"

"Of course not. I love you Jim, I would never step out on you."

"Me neither Jim. I mean the part about not kissing her again. Not the stepping out thing, cause we never dated…I'm gonna stop talking now." Sam said, stuttering a little.

"Okay, fine that's settled, now let's get inside before we all catch a cold or something." Jim said, turning without acknowledgement from either them, and going back inside.

When they got back inside Mike was placing a book in his back pack. He smiled as Jim sat down.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you don't get out of school till next week do you Michael?"

"Nope, so I have to go tomorrow. But I wanna hear all about college when I get home, okay?"

"Of course, that's the plan. I swear, the next time I come home you'll probably be two inches _taller_ than me."

"Could be. See ya tomorrow." Mike said, he headed upstairs. Just then Rose came in the front door.

"Hey, Jim. I missed you so much." She said wrapping him in a cold hug.

"Where have you been all this time young lady." Oliver demanded of Rose.

"Me and Alex where studying for end of the year tests over at his house."

"Studying? Is that what they call reading the text book for three minutes, looking into your boyfriend's eyes and kissing him, and then reading the book some more, nowadays?" Oliver said sarcastically.

"No, we were really studying. We both want good grade…no really!" Rose insisted, even though her explanation obviously wasn't being bought.

The next day when Mike and his friends left the school building, Mike walked hand in hand with his girlfriend Kate. Robbie walked along in tow. And Susan and Charlie walked beside them. When Mike and Kate broke from the group to go to his house, the rest of them made their way in the other direction. This was until Robbie made it to his house and now it was just Susan and Charlie.

"So, Susan what kind of stuff do they do in Tennessee for the holidays?" Charlie wondered out loud.

"I wouldn't know, I'm from California." Susan laughed. She reached a hand over and gave him a playful shove. He smiled warmly, and laughed a little. His laugh was infectious, as was his smile. It had always been this way with Charlie, no matter whom it was they would say the same thing.

"You know I was thinkin'…" Susan started.

"Uh-oh, Susan's thinking again, alert the media!" Charlie teased her with another soul melting smile that only came more naturally to him all the time.

"Well fine I won't tell you what it was." Susan said, pretending to be upset.

"Alright, I'll be nice. Go ahead and tell me. Please?" Charlie said, acting cute with her now.

"Okay, here's what I was thinking…" She said, Charlie waited for the rest of her sentence, but it never came. What did come was something entirely unexpected. Susan moved quickly and kissed Charlie on the lips lightly as if trying him out for size. Charlie smiled so brightly at her, when she pulled away, that one would think the temperature around them went up by ten degrees.

"I'm not sure I heard you…could you repeat that…you said you where thinking what?" Charlie said, being silly but at the same time realizing he was serious about what was now happening. This time they both came together and kissed by way of interlocking their lips and closing their eyes as the cold air whisked around them.

"Very well put Susan." Charlie said, still acting cheeky. But Susan didn't mind, it made her perception of him being cute even greater than before. Shortly after, they both took a few moments to digest what had just occurred, and then they turned and continued walking home together. Somewhere along the way Charlie's mitten incased hand found its way around Susan's and that is where it stayed until they reached Susan's house. There she turned and they kissed goodbye, and their hands drifted apart. Charlie then made his way home, with a smile that for all he knew could be permanent, but this was his way, he was an eternal optimist, nothing got in the way of that no matter what. He chuckled a little because he was quite sure he could hear a whooping coming from Susan's house that must have come from her soon to be stepfather Richard who had been taking a more active and sometimes unwanted interest in her life recently.

That evening Jim was with Sam, Alice and Ellie. They were sitting around the fireplace in the Oken living room, laughing, sharing stories of college with Jim's family. The stories they found the most entertaining where the ones of Jim's roommate McCoy and all his aspirations to be a 'good ole country doctor'. After a while they were all getting quite restless. Rose and Alex had been together all day. It was clear to everyone around them how in love the two of them where. The atmosphere they gave off was contagious. Joy was in the holiday air.

"I have an idea, we can go out and just walk around." Alice suggested. Jim and Sam cringed at the mention of having to brave the elements. Ellie on the other hand was not as used to cold weather as they where and therefore she was not aware of how hostile the cold was.

"Ellie wants to see Malibu a little." Alice told them after they both gave her looks that said _'Do we have to?'_

"Can't she wait till summer and see it then?" Sam complained.

"No, we're here now. Let's go." Alice commanded. They obediently followed her out in winter coats and gloves.

"I can see my breath Alice, do we really have to?" Sam whined some more. His grievance fell on deaf ears as they walked toward the deserted board walk.

"So that's the beach, we do a lot of surfing there. I guess that's just something most people in Malibu do." Alice informed Ellie as they passed the beach. They approached a line of restaurants close to the pier.

"So that's where we go to eat a lot. Lots of good choices." Alice continued. They made their way down around the board walk of the pier and stopped near the underside near some support beams.

"And this is where Jim and I first kissed." Alice said, giving Jim an affectionate look.

"Wow, it must be fun living here. No Alligators and no hurricanes." Ellie commented.

"Yeah, well we get earthquakes. There's a funny story about me and Jim involving an earthquake, but that's for another time." Alice told her.

"You know Sam, with all this beach scenery; I'm surprised you don't have a girlfriend from around here." Ellie said to Sam.

"I did, but we broke it off before we left for college. We didn't think it would work too well, what with being so far apart and what not." Sam replied.

"Yeah, in Florida there's not a lot of guys to choose from. Mostly just old people. So I say who needs a boyfriend, right?" Ellie chuckled. A gust of icy cold wind burst around them, nearly knocking them off their feet.

"Yeah, that's right, I don't need a girlfriend. What are they good for anyway?" Sam agreed. Alice stepped up beside Sam and whispered to him.

"I'll show you what they're good for," Alice said so Jim couldn't hear her, "Jimmy I'm cold!" She said in a demeanor he found irresistibly cute.

"You're cold? Come here and let me make it better." Jim said, he pulled her in tight and wrapped his arms around her, encompassing her as much as he could. "There, feel better sweetheart?" Jim asked caringly.

"Much!" She said to him.

"That's what they're good for. Or at least that's what boyfriends are good for." Alice turned her head sideways, and spoke to Sam.

"Trust me you're good for something here too Alice." Jim told her.

"Oh, really, what's that?"

"Someone to be close to, someone to love."

"That's true we both have somebody to love."

"Yup, I've got you and you've got me. That's what boyfriends and girlfriends are good for: somebody to love." Jim smiled happily down at Alice.

"I'm cold too Sam." Ellie said. Sam walked over to her.

"Well here, I can help…turns out we were wrong." Sam said as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her midsection, and perched his chin on her shoulder.

"Let's try out being wrong together Sam, what d'ya say?" Ellie asked massaging his gloved hands.

"Sure, it couldn't hurt. We can get coffee at this place just off campus when we get back…sorry I'm cold, can't help thinking about warm things."

"You know neither me or Alice was actually cold. We just wanted you two to warm us up." Ellie revealed.

"I knew that all along. Alice is adorable like that." Jim said, and then quickly tried to cover himself. "Oops, we're not supposed to know that. That's the way girls like it."

"It's true." Alice admitted.

Jim thought to himself. His life was still what he wanted it to be. When he thought of how things were going with college and how things where right now with Alice, he realized life was good.

A week later Susan and Charlie where walking along the street which was now covered in snow due to a storm the night before, a storm that was still taking place, in a much tamer form. They considered this to be a date. It was their one week anniversary and since school was out, there was nothing stopping them from spending time together. As they enjoyed their walk together there was one thing Susan could not shake about Charlie present behavior.

"Would you stop wiping your nose? If you have a cold we should go inside." Susan said forcefully.

"I'm fine, I don't have a cold. My nose is just cold, don't wanna get an icicle on it, that wouldn't be fun would it?" Charlie said, trying to be funny. Susan wasn't particularly amused.

"Very funny Charlie! You've been acting weird all day. And you're dang sure gonna tell me what it is!" Susan fired at him.

"I promise you it's nothing. I think I'm just a little tired. That's all, don't worry." Charlie insisted.

"Okay, fine. But seeing as we're dating you're gonna hafta stop coming around with snot covered gloves." Susan poked him in the side. It turned out she had found a place where he was ticklish. He double down and laughed out loud, a huge smile on his face, clutching his stomach.

"I didn't tickle you that hard, geez."

"I know, it's just the way I am, when somebody is that way with me."

"You mean when somebody's being silly and messing around with you?"

"Yeah, I act even sillier, it's just a reflex."

"I like it; you're cute inside and outside."

"You're not hard to look at yourself. And speaking of cute, all the country expressions you picked up from your dad…golden."

"Thanks, people don't usually complement me on things like that." Susan thanked him. Charlie was known for complementing people for anything and everything, it was always welcomed. He was nice to everyone he encountered. That was why he was so likeable. Everyone in a room could be having the worst day, and if Charlie walked in it would turn around one hundred and eighty degrees. If the end of the world was tomorrow, Charlie would still be in an upbeat mood that was infectious.

"So you don't think Mike will mind us…you know…dating?" Charlie asked diplomatically.

"Mike…why would he care? He's got a girlfriend, remember?"

"Yeah, but you know, everybody always thought you and he would end up together. You knew that, right?"

"Yeah, I thought that at one point. Don't tell anybody, but I used to have a huge crush on him. I always thought we'd end up together too. It all started when he brought his twenty-four pack of markers to school in kindergarten."

"So what changed? I mean you two are still really close friends and all."

"Are you trying to talk yourself out of dating me?" Susan remarked sarcastically.

"No, not at all. I was just curious."

"What changed was, I met you. And you've always seemed to bring the best out of everyone around you. I like that about you."

"I never really thought about it like that."

"See that's the thing, you carry this ray of light with you, and you do all these things that make everybody around you happy, and you don't even realize it. That's why it's you and not Mike."

"I guess ever since I was in the hospital, I've always known I had to take the 'glass half full' approach. I learned I can't let anything bring me down cause if I do then where am I gonna be? If I see everything from the best point of view, then I'm always in a good place, even if things get bad."

"I wish more people where like you."

"Thanks, I don't know what to say."

"You could, with all the snow around us, it's so beautiful out here, you could ask me to dance. I know it sounds stupid but…"

"It's not stupid; I think it's a wonderful idea. So, will you? You know dance with me?" Charlie asked, as suggested.

"Yes, I would love that Charlie." Susan replied. They pulled each other closer and placed their hands in the proper positions and began to dance, with the snow lightly whipping around them. It wasn't exactly dancing it was more like gliding around together in the snow, but they didn't mind. They both smiled happily at each other with ear to ear grins. It was totally silent around them, there were no cars because the streets where all blocked up with snow, and there were no other people around. So it was peaceful, blissful silence as they danced together amid the falling snow, all that could be heard was the faint rushing sound of wind, and shuffling of their feet. As they got comfortable their cheeks came to rest against one another's, as they lay their chins on each other's shoulders. It was unlike any other experience they had ever had together. Normally they where bustling about loudly on the baseball field, or surfing at the beach, or something else with friends. This was a new and wonderful thing for them. Charlie looked up into Susan's eyes and broke the cold silence.

"You know, you look so beautiful." Charlie said, smiling warmly.

"You're the cutest boy I know Charlie, how's that for a compliment?"

"Can't beat it, you know I thought maybe…maybe…" But Charlie couldn't finish the sentence. Suddenly he lost all energy in his body. His legs gave out under him, and he became deadweight against Susan's body before he slumped down on his back in the snow. There was blood in his open mouth and under his nose. Susan quickly realized it had not been a cold causing him to wipe his nose, it was blood, and that was what was on his gloves. Everything was happening so quickly. She shook him but he didn't move at all. He was unconscious and his breathing was shallow. It was eminently clear to Susan that something was horribly wrong. Due to her greater height, she was able to use enough leverage to lift Charlie off the ground and carry him to whatever salvation she could find for him. She ended up running with him to the Okens' house, which was fairly close by. She went inside without knocking and as soon as they saw her Jim sprang into action.

"What happened?" Jim demanded.

"He…just collapsed. We were just…walking along and then all of a sudden he just sand bagged onto the ground. You've gotta do something!" Susan exclaimed frantically.

"Alright I'll take him to the hospital. I can't do anything myself. Dad, can I take your car?"

"Sure thing." Oliver said, tossing his keys to Jim.

"Alright carry him into the back seat and hold him still till we get there." Jim instructed her. She obeyed without a word.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Oliver told Jim, who was already half way out the door. He and Susan sped to the hospital in silence, Charlie's unmoving body slumped across her lap. When they got to the emergency room entrance a nurse admitted him immediately. They placed Charlie on a gurney and the nurse rushed him out of sight immediately. By the time they got him out of the lab testing room and into a room in the Intensive Care Unit, Charlie's family as well as all of the Okens and all of the Stewarts where waiting for him in his room. He was groggy looking and didn't appear to be in as bad a shape as he had been earlier.

"He's just a little hazy from the drugs we gave him. You all can talk to him if you'd like." The doctor said.

"Hey Charlie, you alright?" Susan asked quietly, at his side.

"I'm great, I'll be back in no time." Charlie said weakly.

"This kid's a fighter. He's still not down even with what he's facing." The doctor said to Charlie's parents.

"So what happened? Cold, right?" Susan said with a smile. Charlie wasn't smiling when he answered her.

"My cancer's back." He told her. Everyone showed signs of shock.

"How bad is it? What are his chances?" Charlie's mother asked the doctor.

"He's in for a tough fight, his chances are not the best. It's stage three. So I can't tell you if he'll survive or not."

After a long conversation with the doctor, they all gathered around Charlie and offered their support.

"I'll make it, I'm a survivor, I'll be fine." He said.

"We know, but you have to know, we're all here for you and we all love you." Susan told him. He smiled and assured them he was still just was optimistic as ever.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**-This is not the final chapter. As I said, this will go past the ending of "Meant To Be". There are several chapters still left to come (2 or 3) before the end. **

**-I would like to thank any of the people that have stayed with this story all this time, and hope you will stay with it to the end. I have enjoyed writing this story, and hope anyone reading it enjoyed it too.**

_** This is the twenty-second chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**18. **__Rose is __**16. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**14.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	23. The Day's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 23: The Day is Always Darkest Before the Dawn–**

"_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me_." A priest read aloud as his companions strapped a man to a table before him. They were placing needles attached to tubes into his arms and legs. Another man, a member of the local police department stood and watched. The man across the room pressed a button and the table on which the man was strapped began to elevate until it had him facing straight forward looking through a thick plated window into a sparsely populated room of people who were simply sitting and watching. The police officer stepped forward and faced the man strapped to the table. He asked the one question of the man that he was legally obligated to pose.

"Lucas Tomland, do you have any last words?" The officer asked gravely. Lucas said nothing, he simply gave a stern, sullen stare, which told the officer the answer was 'no'. The officer motioned to the prison official who pressed another button which lowered the table into its original position. He motioned to a man standing near a long panel of control who tapped several controls which caused several rods to force liquid through the tubes connected to Lucas' body. His eyelids becoming heavy, the room beginning to fade around him, Lucas uttered one final plea to no one in particular, a desperate beckoning to something that never could have been, and never would be.

"It should have been me…should've been me…" Lucas whispered out of the right side of his otherwise now paralyzed face. He could no longer feel any sensation anywhere in his body. Everything had gone numb. Things were now dark; he couldn't see a thing, which may have been due to the fact that his eyelids no longer functioned and had drifted permanently shut. His impassioned plea fell on uncaring ears, and would never be realized for its meaning. Finally he faded into the unknown.

"Let it be known that on this day Lucas Eugene Tomland was legally executed by the process of lethal injection for the crime of…" The police officer spoke to the others in attendance.

"Take him to the morgue, may he rest in peace." The prison official said.

**-Six Months Earlier-**

"Mom, I'm gonna be late if I don't make it to the train station!" Mike yelled to his mother who was standing in the kitchen, now a little flustered at her son's impatience.

"Just a second, you'll make it, I promise." Lilly yelled back, hoping she wasn't going to turn out to be wrong. She was taking Mike to the train station so he could ride up to see Jim, who hadn't been able to make it home for his spring break due to a large amount of studying for exams which took place in several months but he needed as much preparation as possible. Now that it was Mike's spring break, he could go and see Jim and stay in his dorm room for the week.

"Come on mom! The train's not gonna wait for me."

"I know that, I'm coming! By the way do you know where your sister is?"

"Last time I saw her she was on her way to Alex's house. Something about a big surprise for their…whatever month anniversary this is."

"Ok, fine. I guess she'll tell me when she gets home. Let's get going."

They made it to the train station in plenty of time. Mike began to make his way towards one of the cars when he was waylaid by his mother.

"Aren't you gonna hug me goodbye kiddo?" Lilly asked, with outstretched arms.

"Mom! We're in public!" Mike complained through gritted teeth.

"It won't be that bad, come on, just a little hug."

"Ok, make it quick…" Mike groaned, quickly wrapping his arms around his mother, who was hesitant to let go when he began to pull away.

"I'll see you in a week! Be careful." Lilly shouted after him as he boarded the train. Hours later he jumped out of the train with his luggage and began to look around for his brother. It wasn't that difficult, Jim, his stocky yet thin older brother broke through the crowd of people on the platform quite promptly and yanked Mike into a powerful hug that he was incapable of resisting. He smiled because it seemed strange coming from Jim.

"That was from mom, little bro."

"Oh, I should've known. She must've told you about our little scene back in Malibu."

"Relax, it was from me too. Besides I'd like to see you try and stop me."

"That's true. I'm the only guy I know that's thirteen and his brother can still lift him over his shoulders without even trying."

"It's cause you don't have enough meat on 'dem bones little bro!" Jim remarked, clapping Mike on the back, nearly forcing him forward.

"You on the other hand have too much meat on your bones. Your arm muscles are practically bigger than my legs."

"That's an exaggeration. Besides there's no such thing as too much of that, little bro. Working out, you should try it some time, it helps with stress."

"You look like you've been really stressed lately." Mike commented as they got on the bus that would take them to Jim's dorm room parking lot.

"No, it helps me focus too. But anyway let's talk about you. How's it going with that girlfriend of yours?"

"She's amazing. Things can come out of my mouth… and you know when other girls would get upset, she completely understands what I mean. She's really cool when it comes to that."

"Or maybe my little bro's got that 'Smokin' Oken' magic on his side just like his big brother, huh?"

"Maybe that's it…I think I love her though."

"Michael Stanley Oken, you're only thirteen, you're not allowed to say that word about a girl you're dating."

"Why not? You did."

"That's different, I was at least sixteen…or around that anyway."

"Right…whatever you say."

"Anyway, so how's the other Oken smokin'?"

"You mean Rose?"

"Yes I mean Rose. Who'd you think I meant? Mom and dad?" Jim smirked, thumping Mike lightly on the shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry. She's doing great. We still can't be happier for her…dumping that loser Ben. Alex is so cool. He plays catch with me, now that Charlie's in the hospital, and Susan's always there. I never knew he was good at baseball. He and Rose are really happy, and they like…it's like they were always together, like there two halves… or something. I think they're going out on a date tonight. They're going to see Ally Jonas in concert."

"Really deep, little bro. Speaking of deep, your voice, has it gone and changed while I've been away?"

"Yeah, people won't stop giving me a hard time about it. Grandma Heather was the worst, she wouldn't stop pinching my cheek and telling me how grown up I was getting."

"You think you have it rough. I was being hounded nonstop starting when I was twelve cause they found out I had kissed a girl…so all of a sudden I had a 'hot love life'." Jim grinned, putting his arm around his brother and throttling him affectionately. When they got into Jim's dorm room McCoy was sitting at the kitchen table mixing something in a bowl. It looked anything but appetizing.

"You're not gonna eat that, are you?" Mike asked him, cringing in disgust.

"This? It ain't for eating. It's an experiment." McCoy responded in his usual southern twang.

"You don't wanna know Michael. Tissue cultures…he's trying to infect them with…well like I said you don't wanna know."

"So Jim this is your little brother. Wait who's older?" McCoy asked looking them both over in comparison. Jim looked at Mike to see what the confusion was about, he quickly discovered the source.

"Who says he can't be taller than me? He's thirteen, I'm seventeen."

"Never mind, I was just askin' a question. He looks just like you accept…he's skinny."

"He didn't used to be this big, actually he used to be kind of ch…" Mike began to blabber.

"He doesn't need to hear about that. Trust me. He doesn't."

"Hear about what. What are you hidin' Jimbo?"

"Nothing special."

"I'm guessin' there's more than just facial features you two have in common." McCoy observed, referring to Mike being on the thin side.

"You mean the fact that we both have the sugar d's?" Mike asked innocently.

"Yeah, I thought so. Are you the same brother that broke his back…?" McCoy asked curiously.

"The one and only. Why? How'd you know that?"

"Your brother talks about you in classes all the time. You're his inspiration. You and his hot girlfriend."

"Okay, I think I'm just gonna go get your things off the curb before I get any more embarrassed." Jim said, making his way outside the dorm room.

"So what was it you where saying about Jim before he cut you off?" McCoy pondered.

"I think he's got a picture on his desk. Yeah here it is." Mike said, lifting a picture from Jim's desk on his side of the room. It was a picture of Mike and Jim on the beach when they were younger. Mike was short and abnormally thin. Jim was taller than him, and had an ample looking belly. "See, he was kind of fat then. He was eleven, I was seven. One Christmas our grandmother got really mad cause he ate a whole bunch of the Yule-log cake. And then when we took the Christmas picture we could see a bit of a spare tire on him. But look at him now…" Mike told McCoy, unintentionally gossiping, but entertaining McCoy more than he would ever know.

"Yeah, a lot of kids grow out of that when they get older. It's just the way it goes." McCoy told him. Just then Jim came back into the room. Mike stuck the picture back where he found it, hoping Jim didn't notice.

"Oh, great, that's awesome. Showing him what I looked like in my chubby years."

"It's okay. I won't tell anybody. Who would believe me anyway? Still I wish I'd known you then." McCoy laughed.

"No you don't. I would've eaten your lunch every day at school!" Jim joked snidely. A loud slamming noise emanated from behind them and a boy in his teens with light brown hair barged into the room pointing a pistol at them.

"Get down on the floor, all of you, NOW!" He shouted, forcefully, but seemingly uncertain of himself. They all clamored down to the floor as they were told.

"Who are you? What d'you want?" Jim asked, not an ounce of fear in his voice.

"The name's Jack. And I want you all to shut up!"

"How can we do what you want if you won't tell us?" Mike asked foolishly.

"SHUT UP MINI MCSKINNY!" Jack yelled.

"Come on, just tell us what you want and well get it." Jim tried again.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Jack said, scratching his head with the shaft of the pistol.

"You're not thinking too hard obviously, or you wouldn't be pointing that gun at your own head." Jim said being smart in a very inappropriate circumstance. But then it occurred to him, he had always been smart-mouthed at the wrong time. His fights with an incredibly large Andy Corelli came flooding into his head.

"You're pretty flippant for a guy being held at gun point. Why don't you just keep quiet big guy!" Jack snapped at him, angrily. He seemed to come to a decision at that point. "You, cowboy boots, tie up big mouth."

McCoy pointed at himself and mouthed 'me?'

"Yes you! You're the only one here wearing cowboy boots! Now, take this rope and tie him up." Jack shouted.

"Wait, you're making a big mistake, I'm not the one that needs to be tied up. I'm no threat to you." Jim interjected, a plan forming in his mind.

"Oh yeah? You look pretty tough to me." Jack said, referring to Jim's abundance of muscle, particularly his bulging arm muscles, which at the moment appeared to be getting chocked off by too small sleeves in the undershirt he was wearing due to the heat.

"I can see how you'd think that. But, these are useless. I have no idea how to fight. I bet you do, you'd have no problem with me. Like I said, I'm no threat." Jim said, hoping a lie this big might somehow pass.

"And why is 'country-fried' over there more of a threat than you 'eight-pack'?" Jack demanded.

"Cause…he…he knows Taekwondo…yeah…he's a third-degree black belt. If you don't tie him up quick, he'll be able to get that gun from you, and you won't even see it coming." Jim said, giving McCoy a 'hush' look with his eyes and mouth saying 'go along with it'.

"So maybe I should just do him now, and save myself the trouble later?" Jack said, pulling back the top of the chamber, charging the power cell in the plasma pistol he was holding, it made a faint humming noise, meaning it was ready to fire.

"No! No. Just let me tie him up. There's no need to kill him. Plus if you shoot that thing the security system will go off. You'll get caught."

"Fine, tie him up, big guy." Jack said, throwing Jim a rope, which seemed to be the only one he brought. Jim caught it and began to bind McCoy's arms behind his back and wrapped some of the rope around his front to fasten his legs to his chest. But what Jack didn't see was that Jim was tying the knot right in the palms of McCoy's hands.

"Okay, he's tied up, now what?"

"Now we wait. My dad's gonna call me and tell me what to do. Right now he's setting up a surprise for your father, Jim. Oh and I supposed 'string bean' here must be you're little brother Mike?" Jack spoke them in a voice completely devoid of any morals.

"So, Jack, what about your mother. What's she think of all this?" Jim asked, trying to talk him down, but failing miserably.

"SHUT UP! I don't talk about her! She might have given birth to me, but Joanie is not my mother!" Jack spat at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Jim uttered quietly. A ringing sound was coming from Jack's pocket. He lifted a phone from that very pocket.

"Shut up, it's my dad!" Jack shouted, tapping a control. A hologram of a middle aged man with graying hair came into focus, projecting from the phone.

"Is it done my boy?" The man asked in a gritty voice, denoting a stressful and unsatisfying existence.

"Yes, father. I have the Oken brothers. They won't be a problem for me."

"I trust you son. But be wary of the big one. He's smart, and quick, unlike his father."

"As you wish father. I won't kill any of them until you tell me to."

"Kill them? I don't want you to kill them. I want you to make them watch!" Jack's father said laughing maniacally, dissolving from view as the call ended.

"You heard him, sit there and wait for it. I'm sure life will never be the same after my dad takes from yours the thing that should have been his long ago. The thing he took from my dad, in a time of my father's bad judgment. Or should I say the person?" Jack said, in his cold, emotionless voice.

Several hours later, at about five o'clock in the evening, Rose and Alex arrived at the LA Concert center. They had back stage passes to see Ally Jonas sing. This meant they would meet Ally, her father, and her brother after the concert was over. They quickly made their way to a security station and presented their passes to the guard, who promptly showed them back stage, and informed them that this was where they would be experiencing the concert from. As soon as the guard left them Rose turned to Alex and kissed him excitedly on the lips. "I'm so excited right now! I never thought I'd get to meet Ally Jonas!"

"Yeah, me neither…I like how you put it though." Alex said, more excited because Rose was excited, than he was about getting to meet the pop star who was now beginning her concert. Rose kissed Alex at least half a dozen times, unexpectedly throughout the three hours of the concert. When it was over Ally came back stage to greet them. She was slightly taller than Rose, more athletic looking, and she was partly Asian in appearance which came from her mother.

"You must be Rose and Alex, the ones that one the contest. I'm Ally…"

"Ally Jonas!" Rose exclaimed cutting her off.

"I love my fans. I really mean it. I suppose you two want pictures with me?" Ally said, posing between Rose and Alex, smiling. When they finished she looked to Alex.

"Is your girlfriend always this way?" Ally asked, referring to the fact that Rose was speechless and seemed to have a smile that wouldn't go away.

"No, she's just really excited to meet you that's all. Rose…say something!" Alex said through the corner of his mouth nudging Rose.

"Sorry. I'm…it just doesn't feel real. You know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean. I get this a lot." Ally told her.

"We have to get going Ally." Ally's father said.

"Well it was nice meeting both of you. If there's anything else we'll be here for the next few minutes getting ready to leave." Ally said to Rose and Alex.

"Thanks…Ally Jonas." Rose spouted awkwardly. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and read the screen.

"Alex, my mom is gonna be late, she's still at home. Some kind of emergency." Rose told him sounding worried.

"But we'll be here for hours!" Alex complained.

"I couldn't help overhearing; you two don't have a ride home. Maybe we can help you out." Ally's father offered.

"Thanks Mr. Jonas thanks a lot." Alex uttered.

"Let's go, you live in Malibu, right? We can drop you off on the way to the airport." Mr. Jonas told them. They all rushed into the limo parked in the garage of the concert center. When they got in they were sitting across from Ally, her father and her thirteen year old brother. On the way Mr. Jonas spoke up.

"By the way you can call me by my first name, Frankie."

"We know who you are…I mean you're a rock star…even bigger than your brothers ever where…of course we know you."

"Well that's nice to know. I'm getting recognized." Frankie said smiling. Ally's brother spoke up.

"I'm Ally's brother by the way, I'm Noah."

"Hi, Noah, we know you too. I mean, from your Taekwondo competitions on TV. You're awesome."

"Thanks!" Noah grinned.

Earlier that same evening Susan made her way down the hallways of the cancer ward at Malibu General Hospital to see Charlie, her boyfriend. He had stage three cancer, and things where not looking especially optimistic for him. He had weathered the same disease when he was younger, but this time it was different, more severe. When Susan got to his room she was shocked to see his bed was empty.

"Nurse, where is my boyfriend? His name is Charlie Hartman. He's supposed to be in this room."

"He might be out for another treatment." The nurse suggested.

"No, he's not scheduled for another session until tomorrow."

"I'll put security on it right away young lady."

"Wait! I don't think you need to. I'm pretty sure I know where he is." Susan told the nurse, making her way to an elevator at the end of the hall. She had seen a book on Charlie's bed side table that gave his location away. Besides that she knew him well enough to know what he must be doing. As she got off the elevator Susan observed a sign on the wall that read 'Pediatric Oncology Ward' which translated into the area where younger children with cancer stayed. Just as she had predicted Charlie was there in the main play area, amongst all the little kids. He was smiling and laughing along with the kids. He had a book in his lap, which he was reading to them. As he read he was doing faces and funny voices to make it more fun for the kids. He seemed to be finished reading the book. When he closed the book a little girl crawled over to him on the carpet and hugged him, a big smile on her face. He smiled and hugged the girl back. Susan moved closer, and as she did, she noticed Charlie was wearing his blue and white beanie hat. He had stopped wearing it years ago. But since he had started cancer treatments again, his hair had begun to fall out, so he was wearing the hat again to conceal it. Susan let things be for a while longer. But after a while she interrupted.

"Charlie, I've been looking for you."

"Hey, Sus, how's it going?" Charlie responded, his voice sounding tired and a little weak.

"I don't know you tell me how it's going."

"I just didn't feel like staying in my room all alone forever. Beside, who else was gonna read to these guys?" Charlie asked, pulling off his sweetest and most innocent expression.

"You can come back later. I promised the nurse I'd bring you back to your room, okay?"

"Fine. Later you guys!" Charlie said to the kids, some of whom waved at him as he left.

"It's just really hard to accept that more than half the kids in there won't make it to their next birthdays. But then chances are neither will I…so I guess it works out fine then…" Charlie said, sounding depressed for the first time since Susan had met him. It seemed at this moment to be obvious that Charlie had lost much of the innocence that had made him such a positive person. He had seemed unbreakable, but he was starting to crumble. He still had some of his joyous nature; this was evident in the way he took pleasure in keeping the other children company. But a part of Charlie was changed and would never be the same again. When they got back to Charlie's room his doctor was there waiting for him. Charlie climbed into bed; he was tired and hoped the doctor wouldn't take long because he wanted to get to sleep.

"Charlie I have some good news for you…well it might be good news."

"Okay, it's about time. I was starting to think all you could tell me was bad news."

"Well… according to the tests we ran this morning, there is the possibility you could go into remission fairly soon."

"How good…I mean what are the chances? I mean, I don't wanna get my hopes up if it's not gonna happen." Charlie stated in a very uncharacteristically pessimistic manner.

"There's a more than likely chance you will rally."

"Still, that's not very comforting."

"I'm sorry I can't promise anything. But don't give up just yet."

"Give up? He never gives up!" Susan interrupted.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Charlie murmured in a wholly unconvincing manner. He pulled the covers over himself and Susan left him to sleep.

Meanwhile chaos erupted at the Oken house. Miley was there with her fiancé Richard. But things were getting ugly because just as they sat down to get comfortable a specter from the past came bursting through the front door, splintering the door where the lock was. Jake Ryan, Miley's former husband exploded into the front living room, with a face full of wild fury.

"Miley Ray Ryan you're coming with me!" Jake yelled, shaking the room with his voice.

"Not a chance. And you know for dang sure it's Miley Stewart! Now get out!"

"No! There's not a force on heaven or earth that'll make me leave right now!" Jake shouted, saliva projecting from him in all directions.

"How 'bout the police? I'll bet they can make you leave."

"There ain't gonna be any cops, you lyin' hick!" Jake raged.

"What do you even want Jake it's been thirteen years? What could you possibly want with me?"

"I want you to stand up and tell me why in the name of all that is good and holy would you not tell me I have a daughter?" Jake fired at her, grabbing Miley's' arm and yanking her to her feet.

"What're you doing? You can't touch me like that!"

"I'll do whatever I want. Now tell me what I want to know! NOW!"

"Alright you really wanna know?" Miley shot back, pulling away from Jake's grasp.

"Yes! Tell me now!"

"You walked out on me before I could tell you, and I didn't think you needed to know. That's why!"

"You should have told me!"

"You didn't want kids! So I was dang sure you didn't want her!"

"Well…whatever! Now you're gonna tell me where she is!"

"And why would I do that? Do I look stupid to you?"

"You will if you don't tell me what I want to know!" Jake answered in a very threatening tone.

"Why, after all this time, would you want to know where she is?"

"'Cause you lied to me, and I'm taking custody!"

"You're never even gonna see her Jake Ryan! And there was no lying, like I said you left before I could tell you."

"I'll get her, you'll see. One of you will tell me and I think I know which one it is!" Jake announced insidiously. He panned his head around, his eyes moving along with it in an evil fashion. His gaze settled on Oliver who seemed frozen to the couch next to his wife Lilly. He was brought out of his fear-driven stupor by manner of Jake pulling him up and forcing him over the table in front of him. Jake then forced him to his feet and wrapped his hands around Oliver's' neck, and started to squeeze.

"Tell me where my daughter is and you'll live Oken."

"Never! You're not getting it from me." Oliver chocked out. Jake responded by pushing his foot into the front of Oliver's' kneecap, the bone snapped easily. Oliver was in too much pain to function at all.

"How 'bout now Oken? You gonna tell me or should I do the other one?"

"Okay, okay! She's at the hospital!"

"Why? Why is my daughter at the hospital? What did Miley do to her?"

"Nothing, Miley didn't do anything. Susan's boyfriend is there." Oliver sputtered from his closing windpipe, which Jake, seemingly satisfied, released his vice grip from.

"I'm going to get her! No one try to stop me. Don't call the cops, or you'll never see her again!" Jake threatened them all. He made his way towards the destroyed door he had entered through. Assuming Jake was no longer listening Lilly spoke.

"I just got a text from Rose a few minutes ago. She needs me to go pick her up. I told her I was busy, but I really need to go get her." Lilly said quietly to Oliver.

"I don't want any of you following me so I think I'll take your car Lilly. Your keys gimme your keys!" Jake demanded. Lilly threw her keys across the room where Jake caught them. He then made his way to the side of the house where Lilly's car was parked. They watched as he climbed into the car and slammed the door shut. Just then pandemonium set in. Jake turned the key in the ignition and just as the motor started the entire car exploded. The blast showered everyone in the living room with glass and things outside the house where now on fire. They all had glass stuck to them, which caused a panic.

Outside the house a man began to walk away as though he where utterly unmoved by the site of another human being incinerated by an explosion. He had been aiming a cell phone at the car when it exploded. Now that it was over he pressed another function button and a head in the form a hologram came in to form above his phone.

"The watched just like you said, father." The boy in his late teens asked without emotion.

"My part on the plan has collapsed. I killed the wrong person. It was just some blond fool that was stealing the car. You will have to proceed with your part of the plan. I will figure something out. Kill her sons. Do it now, don't miss my boy."

"Yes father, as you wish." The boy answered. But before the call could be ended, something the man was no expecting occurred.

"You… drop the phone and raise your hands slowly!" Someone commanded from behind him. As he was not expecting this to happen he was surprised and dropped the phone accidently. As it impacted with the cement the hologram of the boy warped out of existence. He began to raise his hands above his head when the man behind him grabbed him and handcuffed him in one quick fluid motion.

"I'm placing you under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right…" A police officer of average height, and a little on the heavy side informed him.

In Jims' dorm room Jack placed his phone down on the table, and pulled out the plasma pistol he had tucked in his belt line. Without a word he took aim at Jim and pulled the trigger. Jim managed to dodge the plasma bolt but only by inches. He could feel the heat of the bolt as it streaked past his ear.

"Sorry Oken, but it's time for you and your puny little brother to say 'goodbye'." Jack smiled insanely. He raised the weapon and fired at Mike this time. The bolt was even closer, but Mike managed to duck under it, nearly unscathed. The smell of singed hair filled Jim's nostrils. Now it became even more personal, and crucial that he take some kind of action. Jack volleyed a barrage of blue plasma bolts in their direction. He had clearly never used a weapon before, all of his shots missed. He began to steady his aim, preparing to fire again, the pistol aimed squarely at Mike's head, there was no way he could miss. But when he pulled the trigger he was shocked to find that nothing happened. He cursed loudly as it dawned on him that the power cell was empty, and he would have to get another one from his pocket.

Time was of the essence. Jim sprung to his feet and in two long strides made it to Jack, who was fumbling in his pocket for another power clip. A loud cracking sound resonated throughout the room as Jim's fist exploded into the side of Jack's head. His eyes rolled back in his head, a small stream of blood leaked from his eye socket, where a blood vessel had ruptured. Jack sunk to the floor in dead weight; the pistol fell from his hand, sliding across the floor, feet from where he had landed. Around a half hour later Jack began to wake up. But he was greeted by the campus police.

"Jack Tomland you're under arrest for attempted murder, and underage possession of a lethal weapon."

"What? How'd you find out?" Jack asked beleaguered.

"Tipped off! Lieutenant Owen Oken of the Malibu PD, overheard your father telling you to kill these boys. He's on his way to prison; don't get your hopes up about ever seeing him again. Oh, and that pistol set off a silent alarm. Get up, I'm gonna cuff you." The officer commanded Jack, who did so, still emotionless as ever. Another officer moved over to Jim, Mike, and McCoy. He began untying McCoy, who had already managed to untie himself mostly.

"Are you boys alright?"

"I think so; my brother might need to grow back some hair. But I think we're alright."

"Speak for yourself Jim; my nerves are frayed beyond belief!" McCoy gripped.

After being questioned for hours by the campus police, and a visit from one of the college counselors, they were finally left alone.

"So you were fat Jim?" Was McCoy's first question.

"What? No! I was chubby!"

"I don't know, you looked kinda porky."

"How would you know? Wait he actually showed that to you?" Jim asked worriedly. He turned his gaze to his brother. "Michael Stanley Oken! You're in big trouble! I mean big! Bigger than you've ever had to face in your entire life."

"Bigger than that belly you had?"

"That's it, now you asked for it!" Jim grabbed Mike and put him in a headlock with Mike's head near his armpit. He started rubbing his brother's head with his knuckles, careful to avoid the newly acquired bald spot.

"Have mercy. Have mercy!"

"No mercy, just pain!" Jim laughed. Soon they were all laughing, trying to forget the day's occurrences.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**- There are only a few chapters still left to come (2 tops) before the end. So I hope you will stick with it to the end.**

**-I would like to thank any of the people that have stayed with this story all this time, and hope you will stay with it to the end. I have enjoyed writing this story, and hope anyone reading it enjoyed it too.**

_** This is the twenty-third chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**17. **__Rose is __**15. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**13.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_


	24. The Last Great Storm

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 24: The Last Great Storm–**

_**Previously:**_

_-She's doing great. We still can't be happier for her…dumping that loser Ben. Alex is so cool. He plays catch with me, now that Charlie's in the hospital, and Susan's always there. I never knew he was good at baseball. He and Rose are really happy, and they like…"_

"_Really deep, little bro. Speaking of deep, your voice, has it gone and changed while I've been away?"_

"_Yeah, people won't stop giving me a hard time about it. Grandma Heather was the worst, she wouldn't stop pinching my cheek and telling me how grown up I was getting."_

"_You think you have it rough. I was being hounded nonstop starting when I was twelve cause they found out I had kissed a girl…so all of a sudden I had a 'hot love life'."_

_-"Who says he can't be taller than me? He's thirteen, I'm seventeen."_

"_Never mind, I was just askin' a question. He looks just like you accept…he's skinny." _

"_He didn't used to be this big, actually he used to be kind of ch…" Mike began to blabber._

"_He doesn't need to hear about that. Trust me. He doesn't."_

"_I'm guessin' there's more than just facial features you two have in common." McCoy observed, referring to Mike being on the thin side._

"_You mean the fact that we both have the sugar d's?" Mike asked innocently._

"_Yeah, I thought so. Are you the same brother that broke his back…?"_

_-"Charlie I have some good news for you…well it might be good news."_

"_Okay, it's about time. I was starting to think all you could tell me was bad news."_

"_Well… according to the tests we ran this morning, there is the possibility you could go into remission fairly soon."_

"_How good…I mean what are the chances? I mean, I don't wanna get my hopes up if it's not gonna happen." Charlie stated in a very uncharacteristically pessimistic manner._

"_I'm sorry I can't promise anything. But don't give up just yet."_

_-Jake Ryan turned the key in the ignition and just as the motor started the entire car exploded._

_-"Let it be known that on this day Lucas Eugene Tomland was legally executed by the process of lethal injection for the crime of…"_

**-15 Years Later-**

_*from this point to the end everything in italics is a flashback scene._

"Daddy…wake up! Daddy!"

"Huh…what time is it?"

"I gotta go to school!"

"It's only seven thirty. School's not till nine." Jim moaned as he sat up.

"I wanna be ready. I don't wanna miss the bus! Remember you promised?"

"Promised you what Rory?" Jim asked through a bear of a yawn.

"Dad! You promised you'd take me to the bus stop! It's my first day of kindergarten!"

"That's today? Oh man…"

"Of course it's today! Now get up, I don't wanna miss anything!" Rory stated plopping himself down next to his father.

"Rory I'm really sorry…when I promised you that I didn't know I was gonna be on call at the hospital. A lot of sick people are counting on me." Being on call meant Jim had to be available at any time to come down to the hospital if he was needed.

"Dad! You promised!" Rory complained mercilessly.

"I know I did. But there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sorry. How 'bout you're Uncle Mike takes you today and I'll take you tomorrow?"

"Promise?"

"I promise! Wait…I was on call yesterday…that means today's my day off. Did I forget?" Jim said with a smile, his arm around the back of his sons head rubbing his thick blond hair.

"That's not funny daddy!"

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it. Now go back to bed. You wanna be awake and rearing to go when you really do need to start getting ready." Jim told his son, who obediently ran out the room and up into another.

Jim made his way into the living room in the front of the house. When he got to the couch someone was waiting there for him with a look of exhaustion on their face.

"I didn't have the heart to tell him I am on call today. Sweaty he really wanted you and I both to see him off."

"I know Ally; I really wanted that too. But you know nothing ever seems to turn out the way you think it will." That's when Jim's mind turned to times past and his wife's face faded away.

"_Honey get your back pack you're gonna be late for you first day of kindergarten!" Lilly Oken yelled to her son._

"_I'll be right there; I'm just making sure my lunch is okay mommy."_

"_It's fine Jimmy, I even put a little mustard smile inside your sandwich just the way you like it. Now come on. Alice is outside waiting to walk to the bus stop!" _

_This made Jimmy move a little faster. He zipped out the front door with his mother following behind. After a few steps out the door he unwittingly bumped hands with Alice. His puffy cheeks turned a dark red. They didn't speak to each other until lunch time that day._

"Earth to Jim, where were you just now. You kind of zoned out for a second."

"Sorry about that little bro."

"I don't know why you still call me that. I'm four and a half inches taller than you." Mike commented.

"Maybe tall people snore more than short people."

"Really? You would know being a doctor and all."

"No, it has nothing to do with height."

"Wait…then how do you know I snore? Do you spy on me at night or something?"

"Don't have to; I've got my own personal spy. He's five and you're sharing a room with him since your hear all week for the cop convention." Jim said, a wise-guy look on his face.

"Well if he hates it so much maybe I'll find somewhere else to stay from now on."

"You're only here every once in a while. And I'll let you in on a little secret. I think somehow the snoring helps Rory sleep. Don't ask…"

"I won't…I miss us all being in the same house like it used to be…you know?"

"Yeah, I know… but I'm a doctor now, you're a police sergeant, and Rose…she's a teacher like mom."

"Yeah, I know. I bet the kids are wondering when ole' Mrs. Oken is finally gonna retire…but you know what I miss…well not really miss but I wonder what it'd be like? Charlie…he and I were gonna be on the same time when we made it pro. But it just took the heart out of it when…you know. " Mike said, looking down at his feet.

"And that's when you decided to be a cop like Uncle Owen and Grandma Oken…I know." Jim filled in the rest for Mike.

_Jim walked down the hospital hallway looking for his brother. He was home from college on winter break during his second year. His mother had told him Mike was at the hospital visiting Charlie. So Jim knew it was a good bet if he found Charlie's current room in oncology (cancer ward) he would find Mike as well. But when he got to Charlie's room it was just Charlie in his bed and a younger boy in the other. They were watching something on the television screen across from the beds. The younger boy had fallen asleep._

_Jim came into the room to ask Charlie where his brother was. But Charlie spoke up before he could pose the question._

"_You just missed your brother. Mike went down to the cafeteria."_

"_Mind if I hang out here till he gets back? You look pretty bored? I bet you could use the company."_

"_Sure, have a seat." Charlie gestured. He turned off the television while Jim sat at the end of his bed. _

"_So where's Susan. Don't you two have dates every week?"_

"_That's kind of become a joke, seeing as I can't even leave the hospital."_

"_They said you're in remission, so you should be out pretty soon, right?"_

"_That's what they keep telling me."_

"_Cheer up Charlie. You've got a great girlfriend and lots of people that care. Plus I happen to know the baseball team is waiting for you to come back in the spring."_

"_Thanks, that means a lot. You're right I do need to cheer up…cause otherwise I…" Charlie fell silent, his head fell to the side on his pillow. Jim looked up at the thin sheet of transparent glass that was Charlie's vital signs read-out monitor. His breathing and heart rate were starting to go down. In one quick fluid motion Jim strode over to the head of the bed and hit the medical emergency code button and a loud alarm sounded. Seconds later two doctors came running in and started frantically working to help stabilize Charlie's vitals. But with every passing moment things looked more and more desperate from Jim's point of view._

"_His vitals are tanking. He needs to be defibrillated! Now!" One doctor said to the other. The second doctor pulled open Charlie's gown to reveal his eerily thin body. The first doctor placed the electrical paddles in contact with Charlie's chest and lower side._

"_Alright. Charging. Clear!" A loud burst of energy was shot into Charlie causing his whole body to jump in the bed._

"_He's still crashing, give it a little more!"_

"_Charge. Clear!" Charlie body shuddered once again, not nearly as much this time. _

"_Quick! He's circling the drain!" _

"_Clear!" _

"_Nothing…he's gone." The monitor showed all of Charlie's vitals as thin white lines moving straight across the plate glass screen, and a slight constant monotone was audible. Jim had seen it before when he worked at the hospital. But nothing prepared him less to see someone he knew go this way. Susan and Mike stood just outside the door way, looks of ice cold shock on their face. They were both heartbroken as they had just witnessed one of their closest and dearest friends die. _

"Yeah, he was a really good guy. He definitely went before his time." Jim uttered the only thing he could think of to break the tension at the moment.

"Speaking of time Jim, it's time for me to go. You doctors get to go in when you get a page. But we nurses have to be there by eight no matter what." Alice said giving Jim a sarcastic smile.

"Well I guess I'll see you when you get home. Me and Michael are gonna rock it around Malibu today."

"See ya then." Alice said kissing him on the cheek and quickly scooting out the door. When Alice was gone the two brothers were left to each other's company.

"So you really can't take Rory to the bus stop?" Mike asked curiously.

"I was pulling his leg, of course I'm gonna take him. You can come too."

"Oh, I see how it is. You know I was there at the bus stop on your first day of kindergarten."

"Yeah, but you were in stroller. That hardly means anything."

"Well it's about time to get Rory up…oh wait never mind. Here he comes now."

Rory came bounding out into the kitchen fully dressed. His buttery blond hair was combed straight and his bright blue eyes glistened with anticipation.

"I promise mom'll take you tomorrow little man." Jim repeated.

"I know…she better!" Rory replied gleefully.

"One thing I liked better than the first day of school…"

"Michael you liked everything better than school." Jim cut in.

"I know, but what I liked better than that was when we used to go to the beach and you would watch other people surf and try to copy their moves." Mike recalled, he was actually trying to bring up a happy memory to calm Rory down. He knew his nephew well enough to know he got excited when he was nervous. And today Rory was especially excited.

_Jimmy ran down the beach ahead of his mother and little brother. He found the perfect place to set up their stuff. He threw down his towel and yanked off his shirt revealing his ample belly that shone from fresh sun screen and quivered with every step he took. His best friend Sam stood next to him, a thin stomach matted with orange freckles. Jimmy grabbed the picnic basket from his mother who was not too pleased. She did not want a fat son. He began to eat a sandwich with more than a little vigor. _

"_Don't eat so fast Jimmy, you'll make yourself sick." Lilly scolded. _

"_I'm fine mom, but I think Mikey is getting a little bored."_

"_You're eight and already one of the biggest kids in your class."_

"_That's not true. Andy Corelli is huge! He told everybody the other day he was a hundred pounds! I'm not even close to that."_

"_It's true Mrs. O, we all saw Andy break a chair the other day at his beach party! His stomach hangs over his pants too. It's really gross." Sam chimed in._

"_Yeah, and he ate half the cake before we got there so his mom had to go get another one, and while she was gone he finished it off and barfed it all over the sand." Jimmy finished the story._

"_I'm not surprised with the guy he's got as a father." Lilly muttered under her breath._

"_What?"_

"_I said: don't get too overconfident, the way you're going at that sandwich you could catch up."_

"_Sam's mom says I'll grow into it." Jimmy said, Sam nodded in agreement, backing up his best friend._

"_I hope she's right. Help your brother put his water shoes on."_

_Jimmy sat his little brother down and extracted the water shoes from the bag. When he went to slip one of them on his brothers tiny foot he reached his other hand over and tickled the bottom of his foot. Michael giggled happily. Jimmy quickly did what he was told though, he didn't want to cause too much chaos. _

Rory had barely finished his cereal when he grabbed his book bag, which still smelled new, slung it over his shoulder and headed for the door.

"What are you in such a hurry for Ror-ster? There won't even be any other kids at the bus stop for at least another ten minutes." Mike told him.

"I don't care I can't wait, I have to be there first, I want a good seat!" Rory insisted.

"Fine have it your way Ror, but don't expect your mom to do that. She'll be tired tomorrow." Jim told his son.

To their surprise when they got to the bus stop there was already one other kid and his father. When they drew closer they saw it was Greg Hefley, Rory's best friend from pre-school, and his father Rodrick.

"Greg! Are you as stoked as me?" Rory shouted, clapping Greg on the shoulder.

Before long a pair of twin girls and their mother showed up. The mother looked none too pleased to be there as early as they were.

"See, it's not just us. Maybe you were wrong. Rory had the right idea." Mike commented.

Jim glared at him. "You would say that, wouldn't you? You aren't the one that pulled a double shift yesterday and had to stay on call until after midnight!"

"Sorry, I just thought it might make it okay." Mike cringed.

"It's fine…I'll live without those two hours more sleep." Jim groaned.

More kids and their parents began to show up. Some of them stood with Rory and Greg. Before long the school bus pulled up and kids started running towards it. But one stood back. It was Rory.

"Daddy, I'm scared." Rory whispered to Jim.

Jim got down on his knees and put his hand around his son's arm. He whispered in his ear, "Don't be scared. There's really nothing to be scared about. All the other kids are just as new as you are. Plus, you and Greg, and Rowley are already friends and you're in the same class. Besides before you know it you won't even be scared, it'll all go away once you're there. I promise. And if that doesn't work remember you're Smokin' Oken, just like me and my brother and my dad!"

"Thanks dad, look out, here comes Smokin' Oken!" Rory exclaimed. His face had changed from one of trepidation to one of total confidence. Rory waved to his father and Uncle from the bus window until he was out of sight.

_It was days after the kiss. Jimmy was twelve and he had just kissed Alice, his best friend. She was a girl and he was just getting used to liking girls or even thinking about liking them. He ran down the shoreline of the beach, this was a new habit he had developed days ago after he had a big fight with his rival Andy Corelli. He supposed it was better this than punching Andy across the jaw and besides it seemed to make him eat less or at least not the same things anymore. He was not wearing at shirt at the moment. It was to avoid questions when he got home covered in sweat. He was taller than he used to be and not nearly as flabby. But his belly still protruded slightly with the extra weight he had. _

_He was trying to make sense of all the feelings he now had rushing through his head which was now covered in short hair for the first time since he was very little. He couldn't figure out whether or not he was alright with what happened between him and Alice. She was his best friend. She was very good looking. But she was a girl, and he was still not over thinking of girls as gross or at least not something more than friends. But the thought crossed his mind that maybe it wasn't like that. Maybe girls could be way more fun to be with than he had thought. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice that was familiar and it sent a chill down his spine. It was Alice._

"_Hey Jimmy. I think we need to talk about what happened the other day. You know the kiss…"_

"_I don't wanna talk about it. I wanna pretend it didn't happen!" Jimmy shouted._

"_James Oliver Oken! You don't talk to me like that, it did happen! And we're gonna talk about it!" Alice shouted back. With that Jimmy was even more confused. _

"_I don't want you to see…me right now…you can see all my fat…" Jimmy said blushing deeply. He threw his hands and arms over as much of his stomach as he could, but it was no use, fleshy parts still managed to poke out._

"_You're not fat, you're cute." Alice smiled. She seemed to have reasoned out her feelings even if Jimmy hadn't. But something came over Jimmy at that moment._

"_Now let's talk about the kiss."_

"_It told you I don't wanna talk about it." Jimmy said, he moved closer and kissed her on the lips, pulling away quickly. He stood there and said nothing. Alice seemed pleased with what had just happened. _

"_Well that's one way of discussing it."_

"_Alice I really like you…more than a friend. But please don't tell anybody…not yet."_

"_Okay, I get it…you're worth it." Alice kissed him lightly on the lips. He seemed more comfortable with it now. They walked down the shore together. Alice wrapped her arm around Jimmy's thickset backside._

Mike turned to Jim, "So now that all that excitement's over, what're we gonna do?"

"Wanna go see what mom and dad are up to?"

"Oh, gahhh, no! I meant something fun!"

"I know. But why don't you like going to see them?

"Cause they still act like teenagers when they don't think anyone's looking! It's gross!" Mike cringed.

"Now who's acting like a teenager? _'Eeww gross, my parents kiss!'_" Jim teased.

"Fine, but still let's not go there and say we did."

"Fine, we can go down to the pier for a while. It's probably pretty quiet." Jim suggested.

"Okay, sound good to me. Maybe we'll run into some old friends. I forget sometimes who still lives here and who's left."

"Hey and maybe if you don't OD on cotton candy like I know you want to…maybe you'll meet a girl!" Jim teased.

"Maybe you'll meet a girl!" Mike mocked. "I need a woman, not a girl!"

"You know what I mean! Don't be so sensitive little bro!" Jimmy thumped him on the shoulder.

"Don't make me take you down! I'm a cop, you know!" Mike struck a comical pose like he was going to come at Jim. They both laughed as they approached the pier, the smell of morning still in the air.

"_Jim tomorrow's the big day!" Sam said smiling intensely._

"_And what big day would that be?"_

"_You're getting married! And as you're best man I'm insisting you calm down a little."_

"_Calm down? I'm not the one that needs to calm down."_

"_I still haven't heard you thank me for that awesome bachelor party I threw you last night."_

"_I'll start thanking you when my headache stops thanking you."_

"_No need to get snarky."_

"_I'm sorry; I guess I'm just a little on edge."_

"_Who wouldn't be? I was so nervous on my wedding day; I almost came down the aisle with my shoes on the wrong feet."_

"_I'll never let you forget that. Especially since it was only two months ago!"_

"_Be a good sport, you make way more than me so you won than one."_

"_Come on Sam, I earn it. I save lives."_

"'_I Save lives'," Sam said mockingly, "Jim you're an intern, you're just learning."_

"_Yeah, well I still save lives."_

"_Oh, yeah save this!" Sam stuck his tongue out and threw Jim's tie across the room._

"_Why I outta!" Jim said playfully pumping his fists. He rubbed his knuckles over Sam's head. They both laughed hysterically. _

Before long the pier was starting to seem a little less vacant. People where lining up at the vendors for their morning coffee and bagels. Several of them had children with them.

"I wonder what all these kids are doing here. Shouldn't they be in school?" Mike wondered aloud.

"I don't know. That's a good question, Mikeie."

"That's not funny! I'm twenty-eight! When are you gonna stop calling me that?" Mike complained profusely.

"I don't know…Michael I'm thirty-two. But I still have to hang on to some scrap of childhood, otherwise I'll end up incredibly dull…I mean I won't hold onto as much of it as dad did…but still." Jim seemed to be a little lost in thought.

"Speaking of a scrap of your youth…here comes one now."

Jim looked to see what Mike was talking about. He saw it as clear as day. It was Andy Corelli. He was tall and somewhat buff looking, with short shaved blonde hair. He walked towards them in a jacket in black and white striped track pants. A little girl followed him close behind.

"Better put your dukes up and get ready for a fight!" Andy called out to him.

"Huh?" Was all the Jim managed to get out.

"Just kidding man, how ya been?" Andy said in what could only be described as the friendliest voice possible.

"Oh, me, I've been great. What about you? What have you been doing all these years?" Jim asked politely. They had been friends in high school, but not close friends. And when college came they never saw much of each other again.

"Well, I started my own business. I'm a personal trainer at the gym I own. Oh and this spit-fire is my daughter Julie. She's seven and proud of it!" Andy told them. Andy's daughter was nothing but completely adorable. She was healthy and only slightly athletic looking. She had light brown hair, which framed her dimpled cheeks, pulled back in a single woven braid.

"Wow! Andy Corelli: A family man. I never would've thought…No offense." Jim said, starting to embarrass.

"None, taken. I know what I used to be like. So what have you been up to? You and Alice are married right?"

"Yeah."

"Any kids yet?" Andy asked, trying to pry something out.

"Yeah, I have a son. His name is Rory. He's five, and he is the definition of energy. He already swims better than…_my brother_…did when he was that age and he wants to take Karate when he's a little older. He has more energy than we know what to do with." Jim told him. Mike looked irritated at the swimming bit.

"That sounds great. You, I did peg you as a father type someday, so good for you. You're a doctor, right?"

"Yeah, and those med school debts are still lingering…but that's life, right? So you're a personal trainer? What made you decide to do that?" Jim asked somewhat curious.

"Well, you know my father struggled with his weight, and up until high school so did I. I wanted to help other people in the same situation and at the same time help myself. If you don't mind me asking, why did you become a doctor?"

"I would have to say it was because of my brother. He's amazing. He always has been, and I think he always will be…" Jim started to say, forgetting Mike was still with him. He remembered exactly what inspired him to be a doctor.

_Jimmy who was now closing in on thirteen was testing his newfound muscles by lifting his paralyzed brother into his wheelchair. _

"_We're gonna go to the beach today little bro. How's that sound?"_

"_You sure you can let Alice see you with your shirt off…just kidding."_

"_I know you are, you better be…I'd hate to have to put a hurt on you!" Jimmy said imitating his parent's friend Miley._

"_Besides you look a lot skinnier now."_

"_It's not skinny, it's muscle little bro." Jimmy said, flexing his biceps and mustering his best macho face. It made Michael laugh wildly, which was a good thing. These days getting Michael to smile was always a good thing. Just then something happened that put a crimp in their whole day. A clap of thunder shuddered the room and it began to pour down rain outside. _

"_Oh, great, well will you take a rain check little bro? Hah, rain check! Get it?" Jimmy laughed. Michael was not amused. _

"_Tomorrow for sure." Michael said, he wheeled himself into another room, a look of gloom on his face. Little did they both know the very next day they would discover that Michael would in fact soon be free of the wheelchair._

"So Jim, where's your son? It's a great day out." Andy asked, coming close to Michael's earlier question.

"He's in school. First day of kindergarten."

"Oh, that's a big one. Hope he wasn't too nervous." Andy commented in a fatherly way.

"Yeah, he was but I knew what to say to get him going. So how come Julie's not in school?"

"Oh, she doesn't start until next week. Don't ask me why…weird schedule." Andy mumbled a little.

"Jim I'll be back in a little bit, I think I just saw somebody I recognize. I wanna go say 'hi'" Mike told him.

"Don't have too much sugar!" Jim teased his brother.

"Thanks _dad!" _Mike responded with equal snark.

Mike made his way over to the beautiful brunette he had spotted. He knew right away it was most certainly her. She looked mature and confident, but at the same time burdened and lonely.

"Susan Ray Stewart, is that you?" Mike said, as if he didn't know it was.

"Mike Stanley Oken, you've lost so much weight!" Susan joked, she had always given him a hard time about being overly thin.

"Nah, I gained thirty pounds…in BEEF!" Mike said in an extra low voice pumping his bulging biceps, which where courtesy of his police training.

"God, you're still a loveable dork Oken!" Susan grinned as she pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, that's right it's Susan Almeida now! How's married life for you?" Mike asked, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Over. Tony took off almost eight years ago. I'm a Stewart again."

"Ohh, sorry. I didn't know. It's been a while since we had a chance to talk. So how's Robbie doing?" Mike asked, trying to deflect the awkwardness.

"Oh, you know, he and his wife Charlotte are off being a country duet. They're hosting the Country Music Awards again this year."

"Wow, the Stewart family really knows how to do music. What ever happened to your music?" Mike asked, putting his foot further into his mouth.

"Life got in the way. It's no big deal."

"So Sus, what are you up to?" Mike said, trying to break the tension that only really existed in his head.

"Oh, I'm just taking the day off…I needed a break from…things."

Mike was curious to know what 'things' she meant, he was remembering his feelings for her and everything she said seemed interesting. But he didn't want to press the issue. He already seemed to have embarrassed himself quite enough.

"So we should catch up some time, I miss you a lot Susan."

"Okay, you wanna catch up. I think that's a great idea. How 'bout my place tomorrow for dinner?" Susan suggested. Mike sensed there was something at her house she wasn't telling him about, cause it was far too easy getting invited.

"Sounds great…where is that exactly?

"Oh, I have a house about ten miles from Paradise Cove. Got that in the divorce…here I'll put the specifics in your phone's GPS." She took his phone and tapped a few commands and then handed it back to him. "Listen, I gotta go I'll see you tomorrow around six? Okay?"

"Sounds great! I can't wait."

Mike headed back and found Jim with Andy and Julie farther down on the pier. "Guess what Jim, I did meet a _girl_! It's Susan! She and I are having dinner at her place tomorrow night."

"That's great little bro! Way to go!" Jim slugged him in the shoulder out of brotherly love.

For some reason this made Jim think of his sister.

"_Alex you're getting married today. You're not just marrying anybody. You're marrying my sister." Jim intoned. _

"_Uh-huh…" Alex said, at a loss for words._

"_You're perfect for her. You always have been. That's why I agreed to be your best man. But so help me if you get up there and it's your turn to say 'I do' and you say 'Uh-huh'…well you can use your imagination."_

"_I'll be fine Jim." _

"_Wait…that's what I'm supposed to tell you."_

"_I love Rose. I've known it since I was in third grade. I've been waiting for this day for so long…I know I'm not gonna mess it up."_

"_You're right, you're ready. And I've been ready to welcome you into the Oken family since you started dating my sister."_

"_But she'll be Rose Rhodes."_

"_I know but the grooms family welcomes the bride into their family and the bride's family, that's us, welcomes you into our family…just so you know I already thought of you as family. This just makes it official." Jim told him, patting him on the back._

_Hours later the wedding was about to begin, and Alex was in a back room with Jim and the other groomsmen. _

"_Jim, I might throw up on you."_

"_You'll be fine. Just think in about fifteen minutes Rose is gonna be your wife."_

"_A little better, but I think it might make me want to throw up more."_

"_It's just nerves. You'll get over it." Jim said. They heard a knock on the door. It was time for Jim and the other groomsmen to make their way to the side of the alter across from the bridesmaids. Alice was Rose's maid of honor. She smiled over to Jim and Mike who now stood at attention as music began to play Alex stood at one side of the alter and waited as Rose made her way down the aisle accompanied by her father, Oliver._

"_Do you, Alexander David Rhodes, take Rose Nancy Oken to be your lawfully wedded wife…?"_

"_I do." Alex answered. Anyone there could tell it was the one question he had been waiting to answer that way for a very long time._

"_And do you, Rose Nancy Oken, take Alexander David Rhodes, to be your lawfully wedded husband…?_

"_I do."_

"_Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."_

_As Jim watched his sister and new brother-in-law kiss for the very first time as husband and wife, he could not be more proud of his family._

The end of the day snuck up everyone very suddenly. Alice had beaten home, so she agreed to pick Rory up from the bus stop. On the way home Mike asked Jim a question he already knew the answer to.

"So what are you doing when you get home? I'm just itching to go see Susan tomorrow!"

"I'm just going to relax with Alice and Rory. It's excitement for me. Maybe someday you'll know the feeling." Jim said proudly.

When he got home he only saw a flash of motion and felt an impact.

"Daddy!" Rory shouted with glee, as he jumped up into his father's arms in a big hug.

"How was your first day little man?"

"It was great! There's lots of great kids. But this one girl, Izzy, she won't leave me alone."

"Maybe that means she likes you, you ever think of that?"

"EW! No! She's a girl!"

"Okay, well I'm sure she'll leave you alone eventually."

"Maybe…" Rory responded, sounding unsure.

"I'm taking you to the bus again tomorrow for sure. Alright?"

"Yup, you just promised, so you hafta!"

"Okay."

The morning came before he knew it and Jim made his way out into the front of the house were his son was already waiting for him, two bowls of cereal ready.

"I made you breakfast daddy!" Rory told him.

"I'm having a breakfast of champions today!" Jim said with a smile. Mike rolled his eyes, which told Jim he'd better be careful.

They made it to the bus stop with plenty of time. Rory stood between his dad and a couple of friends from the neighborhood as they waited for the bus. When it came Jim quickly kneeled down to talk to his son.

"Now Rory, you have a fun day. And if that girl Izzy gives you a hard time, just remember you are Rory "Smokin'" Oken!"

"Smokin' Oken!" Rory repeated coolly. He turned and got on the bus with his friends. Jim watched his son, a new life that only just begun.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!**

**-I would like to thank any of the people that have stayed with this story all this time, I looked back in my files it has been just about a year since I started this. I have enjoyed writing this story, and hope anyone reading it enjoyed it too.**

_** This is the twenty-fourth chapter of my story "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their fifties. Jim is __**32. **__Rose is __**30. **__Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are __**28.**_

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!_

_-I hope to write more stories in the future. I need to come up with another idea that can stretch out like this one. Until then I hope you enjoy "Meant to Be" and "A New Life"._

_**Thank You.**_


	25. Journey to the Undiscovered Country

_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 25: Journey to the Undiscovered Country–**

Morning fell upon everyone in a hurry. It always seemed time was in a hurry for the Oken family and the people who knew them. Jim rolled out of bed, woken by the sounds of light thumping feet in the hallway. The footsteps could only belong to one person.

"Daddy!"

It was Rory; he didn't seem to waste any time letting everyone know it was time for something. Jim almost tripped over the weight set he had recently taken out of the attic. He was trying to get back to his old muscular form. It hadn't all gone to the wayside, but he had a lot to regain.

Meanwhile, he raced quietly into the hallway, trying not to wake his sleeping wife. But he had no such luck. Alice rolled over in the bed, groaning in protest.

"Come on…just one more hour…I'm begging you guys…"

"Go back to sleep, I'll take care of roaring Rory…" Jim whispered. Alice rolled back over and pretended to be asleep.

Jim walked out into the hallway where Rory stood. He looked up at his father, smiling wickedly, his golden-blonde hair spiked up. He was standing there in his pajama pants and no shirt, thin as a board. Rory was skinny and already athletic, so it was only a matter of time before he started bulking up like his father.

"What're you smiling about? Did you already take your shower? Why the big hurry kiddo?...I'm sorry R-money…" Jim grinned at his son. He scooped him up and threw him over his shoulders. "We need to keep quiet; your mom's trying to sleep."

"Okay." Rory whispered into his father's ear.

Rory climbed down his father's back and quietly strode out to the front of the house, pulling on a shirt that was hanging from a kitchen chair without even slowing down.

"That kid has the energy of five kids…you have your hands full." Mike commented, he had been there waiting for who knows how long.

Jim made his way out to the dining table where his son was already waiting for him, two bowls of cereal ready.

"I made you breakfast daddy!" Rory whispered quietly.

"I'm having a breakfast of champions today!" Jim commented with a smile. Mike rolled his eyes, which told Jim he'd better be careful.

"Rose and Alex's kid Ethan's still coming over tonight so they can do date night, right?" Mike asked for the millionth time.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause I've got dinner with Susan." Mike reminded him.

"Oh, right. Your date!"

"It's not a date…well I'm hoping it is…we'll see…" Mike blushed a little.

They made it to the bus stop with plenty of time. Rory stood between his dad and a couple of friends from the neighborhood as they waited for the bus. When it came Jim quickly kneeled down to talk to his son.

"Now Rory, you have a fun day. And if that girl Izzy gives you a hard time, just remember you are Rory "Smokin'" Oken!"

"Smokin' Oken!" Rory repeated coolly. He turned and got on the bus with his friends. Jim watched his son, a new life that only just begun.

The evening seemed to creep up on Mike at a snail's pace, but when it was time it seemed like his mind was going a mile a minute. The holographic GPS system in his car guided him right into Susan's driveway. He was actually a few minutes early, but Susan was at the front door waiting for him. She seemed to have something on her mind judging by the labored expression she was wearing.

"Hope you don't mind, I'm fashionably…early."

"Not at all. I actually wanted to talk to you about something before we go inside." Susan said, scratching the back of her head trying to decide where to begin. "Okay…well you know how I told you my ex-husband walked out about eight years ago…right?

"Yeah, what about it? He's not back is he? … Weird things always happen to me on dates…"

"No, it's not that. He's never coming back. I know where he is…he's not coming back." Susan informed him, that certain something still lingering on her mind.

"Okay, well if it's not that, then what does your ex have to do with our dinner?"

"Well he didn't exactly leave me empty-handed. I got the house and money in the divorce, but I also got something else…actually someone to be more specific." Susan started to say, but she seemed to be agonizing over the right words to say.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me…"

"I think it would just be easier if you came inside and I'll show you." Susan led him through the front door, and into a fairly substantial living room. In the middle of the room approached the answer to Mike's confusion. It was a boy, about eight or nine years old. He was slender with dark red hair and a smattering of freckles that lined his dimpled cheeks. "Mike, this is my son Emmett. He's eight."

"Hi there, Emmett, it's really nice to meet you." Mike said in his most friendly voice. Emmett said nothing, simply continuing to stare directly at Mike's face.

"I would have gotten a babysitter, but it's a little difficult cause…" Susan began, but Mike cut in.

"It's okay, kids are great. I used to be one. Still am…at least when it counts." Mike grinned. "So, Emmett, you into sports?"

"Umm, he's a big fan of…" Susan was cut off, this time by her son patting her on the arm. He made a gesture to her and then looked back to Mike.

"I like watch baseball…I like swim a lot." Emmett spoke in a slow and somewhat distorted voice, almost as if his tongue didn't quite fit in his mouth. He then proceeded to make several rapid fire hand gestures to his mother, who made several back.

"Mike, he's not slow or handicapped or anything. Emmett is deaf. He was born almost completely deaf and he still is. He can read lips so look at him when you talk, and don't go too fast. He always has a lot to say, you just have to be patient sometimes." Susan explained.

"So you guys communicate with sign language, I just realized that's what that was." Mike said, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, I learned it when he was little so I'd be ready when he started learning to communicate. I already knew I need to learn ASL, and it was gonna take longer for him to learn to talk out loud."

"Oh, ok, so it's no big deal then. He can understand us and we can understand him just fine." Mike inferred.

"…As long as you don't talk too fast…which we've been doing. He gets really frustrated when he can't understand what people are saying and he kind of shuts down a little." Susan explained.

Mike seemed to know what she meant when he noticed Emmett pouting and crying a little. Mike was a soft person so he couldn't help but feel empathy for someone who was upset by his actions. Before Emmett could lapse into fully formed tears Mike knelt down so he was at eye-level with Emmett.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that…ok. Hey, I have an idea. I promise to slow down and talk so you get it, if you'll let me pitch to you on the baseball field down the street." Mike suggested, hoping it would spark some kind of bond between them.

"I'm a pitcher, you can bat." Emmett stated, the tears ceased abruptly.

"You got it buddy." Mike said, he gave him a hi-five.

Emmett made a sign where he moved his fingers straight out from his chin.

"He's saying 'thank you'" Susan explained.

"How do you say 'you're welcome'?"

"Like this…" Susan showed him, it was a twist of her open hand down to the chest. Mike repeated the sign to Emmett. In turn Emmett signed something else.

"He says 'cool'"

SLAM! Rory's slender body slapped against the salty glistening blue water of the Pacific for what seemed to him like the millionth time that Saturday morning.

"Daddy! I can't do it!" Rory wheezed, the wind had been knocked out of him this time, and he was huffing for air. "It hurts too much." He complained, grasping his bony midsection with both hands and wincing in pain, his stomach red as an inverted strawberry.

"No, I won't hear that. You're an Oken; surfing is in your blood." Jim assured his son.

"Then how come Grandpa Oliver wipes out all the time?"

"Maybe he has a little less of it in his blood…" Jim said, hoping his son wouldn't need much more convincing.

"Well if I keep at it you might end up seeing some of my 'Oken blood'"

"Very funny, little man!" Jim sneered lightheartedly. "Ethan's doing just fine, see? And he's got Oken blood."

"He's a Rhodes, dad."

"I know, but your Aunt Rose is an Oken. ISN'T THAT RIGHT SIS?" Jim shouted to Rose. She gave him a quick thumbs up. She turned to help her son redo the Velcro strap on his board.

"What's your point dad?...Besides Ethan's a year older than me…"

"What did I say about making excuses? Anyway, you're my son; surfing is in your veins. You have at least half a dozen moves that Ethan doesn't." Jim encouraged his son.

"So…what's your point?!"

"Uhhh…space your left foot a little farther out and you'll get it…" Jim improvised.

Meanwhile, a few hundred feet away, Mike and Susan were teaching Emmett some of their moves, which was slightly more complicated. They couldn't call out suggestions or coach him orally. He did, however, have a piece of technology that allowed them to communicate with him almost as if they were speaking out loud. On one end they spoke into a device and on the other end Emmett saw them in contact lenses as if they were standing in front of him somehow, signing to him.

As the day progressed everything seemed to be going swimmingly. Ethan and Rory were even playing with Emmett. Few words were exchanged, partly due to Emmett's limited speaking ability while surfing, but mostly because the boys' ability to have fun did not require a lot of talking. Rory quickly discovered Emmett had been schooled by his mother quite well in the art of wave surfing. He had to swerve several times to avoid a collision with the red-haired wave master. However, after several close calls, this proved more difficult than either of them thought. When they swerved a third time they both wiped out. Rory, with his blond dangling hair lifted his face from the sand and spit grains of salty water and sand from his mouth. He looked around to see how well Emmett had faired. The sight wasn't pretty. He was trying to sign something to his mother right when he bent down and retched all over his board.

"I think he's been wearing the interpreters too long! He's gonna need to lie down!" Susan called out. But Mike got to Emmett first. He plucked the contacts out, much to Emmett's discomfort and pocketed them so as not to lose them.

Grabbing Emmett on both sides of the face beside the eye sockets, he focused the boy's eye-line in one place. Emmett seemed very apprehensive and struggled in Mike's grip. He spoke five simple words, not knowing if the disorientation would prevent Emmett from reading his lips. "Be still, it will help."

Immediately Mike knew he understood. Emmett relaxed completely and stared trustingly at Mike, not breaking his gaze for even a microsecond. It seemed Mike had made a connection or at the very least gained Emmett's trust.

"What are you doing!?" Susan shouted, running up to them almost short of breath.

"I was a beach lifeguard for two summers in high school…they never really taught us to do this, but that's cause they don't really expect you to run into people with hearing disorders…I got that from my brother. That and motion sickness make for some really mean vertigo." Mike explained quickly.

"So you've run into deaf kids getting sick surfing…but how did you know to…" Susan stammered.

"I don't know I just kind of did it without thinking the first time." Mike said, scooping Emmett up in his arms, and carrying him over to one of their towels. He lay him down under an umbrella to shade his eyes. He looked him right in the eyes, "Emmett I need you to try and breath normal, okay?"

Emmett held up his hand weakly and made the shapes of the letters 'O' and 'K' with his fingers and then rested his hand at his side. He seemed to relax even more, his chest rising and falling at a relatively normal rate.

Jim caught up to them moments later. He didn't even have to ask what was going on. "Good job little bro! But how'd you know to do that?"

"Like I just said, something I just kind of did without thinking."

"Wow, Mike, you've changed a lot!" Susan commented. And she really meant it, thinking back to their childhood when they hung out on a daily basis.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked, a little annoyed.

"I just mean, you used to be the one that would freak out at the first sight of blood. And there was a lot of it. You were a klutz." Susan grinned.

"Come on!...Yeah, you're right…but still, that's not that much of a change."

"You were always the one to laugh when someone got dizzy and threw up…even if it was you…unless you saw it, then you got sick…" Susan recounted further.

"Yeah…when I was…eight…"

"Try when you were fifteen! And you never seemed that comfortable around kids, but you're great with Emmett." Susan told him. She was now seeing something in him, that she had never before imagined possible. He had become a smart, mature, and amazing adult. She also thought he was now the kind of guy she could see herself with. Something she had never thought once in the past. Sure he had always been incredibly friendly and sweet, but he had also been extremely corny and sometimes very immature. Things he had seemingly long grown out of.

"Well I guess you're right, I did grow up a little…"

"Try a lot little bro! You're a cop for crying out loud! You are way different then you used to be." Jim patted him on the back. "You look like you have this under control. Give me a holler if you need anything." Jim headed back over to the other kids.

"Since I'm so grown up now, what do you say to dinner tonight, just you and me?"

"Who's gonna look after Emmett?" Susan asked the obvious question.

"My brother can have him over till we get back. Rory seems to really get along with Emmett. So it'd be fun for them too."

"Okay, then it's a date." Susan said with a grin.

Mike had never felt so happy in his life. He never really thought of Susan as more than a friend except for the week-long crush he had on her in high school, a crush that ended with a kick between his legs. But now all sorts of thoughts were flooding his mind. Thoughts of what it would be like to be with Susan and her son all the time. At one time his thoughts would have excluded Emmett. But like they said, he'd grown up a lot. Before he could get too deep in thought, he realized Susan was still right in front of him, but closer. As they leaned in to kiss, something snapped them back down to earth.

Emmett was sitting upright now, waiving his hands in front of his face. "Hello? I'm still here!"

The two of them looked at Emmett and then back at each other and began laughing. Emmett didn't seem to be as amused with the situation. He also seemed to be feeling a lot better, judging by the ease with which he stood and bounded away towards the other kids who were playing with a beach ball a ways away.

Mike and Susan stood up and walked slowly side-by-side down the shoreline. Their hands discretely slipped together. They smiled as they walked silently through the sand together, cool water lapping at their feet. Neither of them knew what they future had in store for them. But at the moment they wanted to face that New Life together. They walked forward into the sunlight, their journey towards that Undiscovered Country called the future had just begun.

**-THE END-**


	26. Character Bios

Character Bios-

James "Jimmy/Jim" Oliver Oken

DOB: June 22, 2019

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Black

Eyes: Piercing Blue

Named after Lilly's favorite uncle James Truscott

Family Traits: Pointed chin (very pronounced as a child before puberty)

Description: Jimmy is considered by his two younger siblings to be just about the best big brother ever. He is always kind to them and treats them like his equals. He is always there for them and never lets them down. At the age of twelve Jimmy was a chubby, hot-headed, act now think later type of kid. But he soon learned to control himself, and avoid physical confrontations…most of the time. He is extremely smart, and strong. He is still seen as the tough one among his friends.

Rose Nancy Oken

DOB: June 31, 2021

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Green

Middle name in honor of Oliver's late mother Nancy Oken

Family Traits: vaguely pointed chin

Michael "Mike/Mikey" Stanley Oken

DOB: July 7, 2023

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Black

Eyes: Piercing Blue

Named after his father's (Oliver) alternate identity

Family Traits: Moderately pointed chin

Has an unexplained phobia of bubble gum

Samuel "Sam" Zane Brooks

DOB: May 10, 2019

POB: Santa Monica, California

Hair: Red (Average tone)

Eyes: Brown

Has the biggest sense of humor among his friends

Siblings: 2 –Younger (by three years) Brother Zachary, Older Sister (by one year) Samantha

Allison "Alice" Emily Greenwood

DOB: June 20, 2019

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Only fear is of snakes

Sibling(s): 1 –older brother (by five years) Simon

Simon Anthony Greenwood

DOB: February 15, 2015

POB: Sacramento, California

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Green

Atypical older brother, he was never disrespectful of his sister. He is always there for her, and supports her whenever she needs it. He is tall and lanky, but still very handsome.

Alexander "Alex" David Rhodes

DOB: May 17, 2021

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Hazel

In love with Rose Oken since before the age of 12. Reveals this fact to many other people except Rose herself. At age 14 he nearly reveals the whole truth, causing a loss of friendship with Rose that lasts nearly a year until they are 15 and Rose breaks up with her boyfriend and quickly realizes (without previously knowing the feeling is mutual) that she is in love with Alex.

Due to emotional pain over his seemingly unrequited love for Rose, he becomes what could be referred to as an "old soul".

Kristen Laura Bauer

DOB: August 18, 2021

POB: Tacoma, Washington

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Had a crush on Alex Rhodes ever since she saw him crying outside their school during a play.

Benjamin Sterling Emerson Linus

DOB: July 23, 2021

POB: Los Angeles, California

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Green

Siblings: 1 older (by 3 years) Roger

Susan Ray Stewart

DOB: July 4, 2023

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Green

She's tough, and very outspoken, just like her mother.

Robert "Robbie" Rod Stewart

DOB: July 7, 2023

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Light Brown (Long)

Eyes: Light Brown

Has a slight southern accent picked up from his father and his aunt

Andrew "Andy" Steven Corelli

DOB: January 19, 2019

POB: Malibu California

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Blue

Number one fear is becoming overweight again.

Son of Sea View High Teacher Mr. Corelli

Emily Lynnette Ross

DOB: May 21, 2019

POB: Baltimore, Maryland

-Moved to Malibu at age 9

Hair: Light Black

Eyes: Dark Blue

Her ambition is to one day be an Olympic swimmer

Charles "Charlie" Logan Hartman

DOB: April 19, 2023

POB: Santa Rosa, California

-Moved to Malibu at age 5

Hair: Jet Black

Eyes: Brown

Always wears a white ski beanie with blue rings at the top and bottom.

Robbie Ray Stewart

DOB: August 25, 1961

POB: Flatwoods, Kentucky

Hair: Brown (Long)

Eyes: Brown

Wants his mullet back

Jackson Rod Stewart

DOB: April 26, 1990

POB: Franklin, Tennessee

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Hazel

Is below average in height

Miley Ray Stewart

DOB: November 23, 1992

POB: Franklin, Tennessee

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Marital Status: Divorced (2022)

Marlene Emma Stewart

DOB: November 17, 1990

POB: Tuscany, Italy

-Moved back to Malibu with her family at age 13

Hair: Dark Blond

Eyes: Light Blue

Married to Jackson Rod Stewart

Oscar Otis Oken

Born: January 23, 1970 (Palm Beach, Florida)

Died: June 13, 2039 (Malibu, California)

Hair: Black

Eyes: Green

Mentally unstable, drinking problems

Facial Feature: Pointed chin

Oliver Oscar Oken

DOB: July 9, 1992

POB: Malibu California

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Facial Feature: Pointed Chin

Scared of spiders

Lilly Ann Oken

DOB: September 10, 1992

POB: Malibu, California

Hair: Dark Blond

Eyes: Blue

Can't sing

Rory Sam Oken

DOB: October 9th, 2048

POB: Miami Beach, Florida (during parent's vacation)

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Has a habit of singing when he's happy.

Emmett Sean Stewart

DOB: June 5th, 2045

POB: Enterprise, Nevada

Hair: Dark Red (matching freckles)

Eyes: Blue

He was born almost completely deaf, and is already an expert at American Sign Language (ASL). His mother, Susan Stewart, had to learn it to fully communicate with him. Once that happened his intelligence and creative nature were obvious.


End file.
